title:
A Regularized Semi-Smooth Newton Method With Projection Steps for
  Composite Convex Programs

abstract:
  The goal of this paper is to study approaches to bridge the gap between
first-order and second-order type methods for composite convex programs. Our
key observations are: i) Many well-known operator splitting methods, such as
forward-backward splitting (FBS) and Douglas-Rachford splitting (DRS), actually
define a fixed-point mapping; ii) The optimal solutions of the composite convex
program and the solutions of a system of nonlinear equations derived from the
fixed-point mapping are equivalent. Solving this kind of system of nonlinear
equations enables us to develop second-order type methods. Although these
nonlinear equations may be non-differentiable, they are often semi-smooth and
their generalized Jacobian matrix is positive semidefinite due to monotonicity.
By combining with a regularization approach and a known hyperplane projection
technique, we propose an adaptive semi-smooth Newton method and establish its
convergence to global optimality. Preliminary numerical results on
$\ell_1$-minimization problems demonstrate that our second-order type
algorithms are able to achieve superlinear or quadratic convergence.


title:
Exact Bayesian inference for off-line change-point detection in
  tree-structured graphical models

abstract:
  We consider the problem of change-point detection in multivariate
time-series. The multivariate distribution of the observations is supposed to
follow a graphical model, whose graph and parameters are affected by abrupt
changes throughout time. We demonstrate that it is possible to perform exact
Bayesian inference whenever one considers a simple class of undirected graphs
called spanning trees as possible structures. We are then able to integrate on
the graph and segmentation spaces at the same time by combining classical
dynamic programming with algebraic results pertaining to spanning trees. In
particular, we show that quantities such as posterior distributions for
change-points or posterior edge probabilities over time can efficiently be
obtained. We illustrate our results on both synthetic and experimental data
arising from biology and neuroscience.


title: Transient Black Hole Binaries

abstract:
  The last two decades have seen a great improvement in our understand- ing of
the complex phenomenology observed in transient black-hole binary systems,
especially thanks to the activity of the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer satellite,
com- plemented by observations from many other X-ray observatories and
ground-based radio, optical and infrared facilities. Accretion alone cannot
describe accurately the intricate behavior associated with black-hole
transients and it is now clear that the role played by different kinds of
(often massive) outflows seen at different phases of the outburst evolution of
these systems is as fundamental as the one played by the accretion process
itself. The spectral-timing states originally identified in the X-rays and
fundamentally based on the observed effect of accretion, have acquired new
importance as they now allow to describe within a coherent picture the
phenomenology observed at other wave- length, where the effects of ejection
processes are most evident. With a particular focus on the phenomenology seen
in the X-ray band, we review the current state-of-the-art of our knowledge of
black hole transients, describing the accretion-ejection connection at play
during outbursts through the evolution of the observed spectral-timing
properties. Although we mainly concentrate on the ob- servational aspects of
the global X-ray transient picture, we also provide physical insight to it by
reviewing (when available) the theoretical explanations and models proposed to
explain the observed phenomenology.


title:
The influence of the structural transition on magnetic fluctuations in
  NaFeAs

abstract:
  NaFeAs belongs to a class of Fe-based superconductors which parent compounds
show separated structural and magnetic transitions. Effects of the structural
transition on spin dynamics therefore can be investigated separately from the
magnetic transition. A plateau in dynamic spin response is observed in a
critical region around the structural transition temperature T_S. It is
interpreted as due to the stiffening of spin fluctuations along the in-plane
magnetic hard axis due to the dxz and dyz orbital ordering. The appearance of
anisotropic spin dynamics in the critical region above the T_S at T* offers a
dynamic magnetic scattering mechanism for anisotropic electronic properties in
the commonly referred "nematic phase".


title: On Shalika germs

abstract:
  Let $G$ be a reductive group over a local field $F$ satisfying the
assumptions of \cite{Deb1}, $G_{reg}\subset G$ the subset of regular elements.
Let $T\subset G$ be a maximal torus. We write $T_{reg}=T\cap G_{reg}$. Let $dg
,dt$ be Haar measures on $G$ and $T$. They define an invariant measure $dg/dt$
on $G/T$. Let $\mathcal{H}$ be the space of complex valued locally constant
functions on $G$ with compact support. For any $f\in \mathcal{H} ,t\in T_{reg}$
we define $I_t(f)=\int_{G/T}f(\bar gt\bar g^{-1})dg/dt$. Let $P$ be the set of
conjugacy classes of unipotent elements in $G$. For any $\Omega \in P$ we fix
an invariant measure $\omega$ on $\Omega$. As well known \cite {R} for any
$f\in \mathcal{H}$ the integral $$I_\Omega (f)=\int_\Omega f\omega$$ is
absolutely convergent. Shalika \cite{Sh} has shown that there exist functions
$\tilde{j}_\Omega (t),\Omega \in P$ on $T\cap G_{reg}$ such that $$I_t(f) =
\sum_{\Omega \in P} \tilde{j}_\Omega(t) I_\Omega(f)\qquad\qquad (\star)$$ for
any $f\in \mathcal{H} ,t\in T$ {\it near} to $e$ where the notion of {\it near}
depends on $f$. For any positive real number $r$ one defines an open
$Ad$-invariant subset $G_r$ of $G$ and a subspace $\mathcal{H}_r$ as in
\cite{Deb1}. In this paper I show that for any $f\in \mathcal{H}_r$ the
equality $(\star)$ is true for all $t\in T_{reg}\cap G_r$.


title:
Improved Sufficient Conditions for Exact Convex Relaxation of
  Storage-Concerned ED

abstract:
  To avoid simultaneous charging and discharging of storages, complementarity
constraints are introduced to storage-concerned economic dispatch (ED), which
makes the problem non-convex. This letter concerns the conditions under which
the convex relaxation of storage-concerned ED with complementarity constraints
is exact. Two new sufficient conditions are proposed, proved and verified to
significantly reduce the conservatism of recent results [3], [4].


title: The three cusps conjecture

abstract:
  We prove Arnol'd's three cusps conjecture about the front of Legendrian
curves in the projectivized cotangent bundle of the $2$-sphere. We use the
microlocal theory of sheaves of Kashiwara and Schapira and study the derived
category of sheaves on the $2$-sphere with a given smooth Lagrangian
microsupport.


title: Aperiodicity at the boundary of chaos

abstract:
  We consider the dynamical properties of $C^{\infty}$-variations of the flow
on an aperiodic Kuperberg plug ${\mathbb K}$. Our main result is that there
exists a smooth 1-parameter family of plugs ${\mathbb K}_{\epsilon}$ for
$\epsilon \in (-a,a)$ and $a<1$, such that: (1) The plug ${\mathbb K}_0 =
{\mathbb K}$ is a generic Kuperberg plug; (2) For $\epsilon <0$, the flow in
the plug ${\mathbb K}_{\epsilon}$ has two periodic orbits that bound an
invariant cylinder, all other orbits of the flow are wandering, and the flow
has topological entropy zero; (3) For $\epsilon > 0$, the flow in the plug
${\mathbb K}_{\epsilon}$ has positive topological entropy, and an abundance of
periodic orbits.


title:
Simultaneous Occurrence of Multiferroism and the Short-Range Magnetic
  Order in DyFeO3

abstract:
  We report a combined neutron scattering and magnetization study on the
multiferroic DyFeO3 which shows a very strong magnetoelectric effect. Applying
magnetic field along the c-axis, the weak ferromagnetic order of the Fe ions is
quickly recovered from a spin reorientation transition, and the long-range
antiferromagnetic order of Dy becomes a short-range one. We found that the
short-range order concurs with the multiferroic phase and is responsible for
its sizable hysteresis. Our H-T phase diagram suggests that the strong
magnetoelectric effect in DyFeO3 has to be understood with not only the weak
ferromagnetism of Fe but also the short-range antiferromagnetic order of Dy.


title:
Hybridization of Expectation-Maximization and K-Means Algorithms for
  Better Clustering Performance

abstract:
  The present work proposes hybridization of Expectation-Maximization (EM) and
K-Means techniques as an attempt to speed-up the clustering process. Though
both K-Means and EM techniques look into different areas, K-means can be viewed
as an approximate way to obtain maximum likelihood estimates for the means.
Along with the proposed algorithm for hybridization, the present work also
experiments with the Standard EM algorithm. Six different datasets are used for
the experiments of which three are synthetic datasets. Clustering fitness and
Sum of Squared Errors (SSE) are computed for measuring the clustering
performance. In all the experiments it is observed that the proposed algorithm
for hybridization of EM and K-Means techniques is consistently taking less
execution time with acceptable Clustering Fitness value and less SSE than the
standard EM algorithm. It is also observed that the proposed algorithm is
producing better clustering results than the Cluster package of Purdue
University.


title: Generalized Kato decomposition and essential spectra

abstract:
  Let ${\bf R}$ denote any of the following classes: upper (lower)
semi-Fredholm operators, Fredholm operators, upper (lower) semi-Weyl operators,
Weyl operators, upper (lower) semi-Browder operators, Browder operators. For a
bounded linear operator $T$ on a Banach space $X$ we prove that $T=T_M\oplus
T_N$ with $T_M \in {\bf R}$ and $T_N$ quasinilpotent (nilpotent) if and only if
$T$ admits a generalized Kato decomposition ($T$ is of Kato type) and $0$ is
not an interior point of the corresponding spectrum $\sigma_{\bf
R}(T)=\{\lambda \in \mathbb{C}: T-\lambda \notin {\bf R}\}$. In addition, we
show that every non-isolated boundary point of the spectrum $\sigma_{\bf R}(T)$
belongs to the generalized Kato spectrum of $T$.


title: Monotone 3-Sat-4 is NP-complete

abstract:
  Monotone 3-Sat-4 is a variant of the satisfiability problem for boolean
formulae in conjunctive normal form. In this variant, each clause contains
exactly three literals---either all or none of them are positive, i.e., no
clause contains both a positive and a negative literal---and every variable
appears at most four times in the formula. Moreover, every clause consists of
three distinct literals. We show that Monotone 3-Sat-4 is NP-complete.


title: Synthesizing Skyrmion Molecules in Fe-Gd Thin Films

abstract:
  We show that properly engineered amorphous Fe-Gd alloy thin films with
perpendicular magnetic anisotropy exhibit room-temperature skyrmion molecules,
or a pair of like-polarity, opposite-helicity skyrmions. Magnetic mirror
symmetry planes present in the stripe phase, instead of chiral exchange,
determine the internal skyrmion structure and the net achirality of the
skyrmion phase. Our study shows that stripe domain engineering in amorphous
alloy thin films may enable the creation of skyrmion phases with
technologically desirable properties.


title: Jigsaw percolation on random hypergraphs

abstract:
  The jigsaw percolation process on graphs was introduced by Brummitt,
Chatterjee, Dey, and Sivakoff as a model of collaborative solutions of puzzles
in social networks. Percolation in this process may be viewed as the joint
connectedness of two graphs on a common vertex set. Our aim is to extend a
result of Bollob\'as, Riordan, Slivken, and Smith concerning this process to
hypergraphs for a variety of possible definitions of connectedness. In
particular, we determine the asymptotic order of the critical threshold
probability for percolation when both hypergraphs are chosen binomially at
random.


title: Incomplete q-Chebyshev Polynomials

abstract:
  In this paper, we get the generating functions of q-Chebyshev polynomials
using operator. Also considering explicit formulas of q-Chebyshev polynomials,
we give new generalizations of q-Chebyshev polynomials called incomplete
q-Chebyshev polynomials of the first and second kind. We obtain recurrence
relations and several properties of these polynomials. We show that there are
connections between incomplete q-Chebyshev polynomials and the some well-known
polynomials. Keywords: q-Chebyshev polynomials, q-Fibonacci polynomials,
Incomplete polynomials, Fibonacci number


title: Quasi periodic oscillations in black hole binaries

abstract:
  Fast time variability is the most prominent characteristic of accreting
systems and the presence of quasi periodic oscillations (QPOs) is a constant in
all accreting systems, from cataclysmic variables to AGNs, passing through
black hole and neutron star X-ray binaries and through the enigmatic
ultra-luminous X-ray sources. In this paper I will briefly review the current
knowledge of QPOs in black hole X-ray binaries, mainly focussing on their
observed properties, but also mentioning the most important models that have
been proposed to explain the origin of QPOs over the last decades.


title:
A Novel Biologically Mechanism-Based Visual Cognition Model--Automatic
  Extraction of Semantics, Formation of Integrated Concepts and Re-selection
  Features for Ambiguity

abstract:
  Integration between biology and information science benefits both fields.
Many related models have been proposed, such as computational visual cognition
models, computational motor control models, integrations of both and so on. In
general, the robustness and precision of recognition is one of the key problems
for object recognition models.
  In this paper, inspired by features of human recognition process and their
biological mechanisms, a new integrated and dynamic framework is proposed to
mimic the semantic extraction, concept formation and feature re-selection in
human visual processing. The main contributions of the proposed model are as
follows:
  (1) Semantic feature extraction: Local semantic features are learnt from
episodic features that are extracted from raw images through a deep neural
network;
  (2) Integrated concept formation: Concepts are formed with local semantic
information and structural information learnt through network.
  (3) Feature re-selection: When ambiguity is detected during recognition
process, distinctive features according to the difference between ambiguous
candidates are re-selected for recognition.
  Experimental results on hand-written digits and facial shape dataset show
that, compared with other methods, the new proposed model exhibits higher
robustness and precision for visual recognition, especially in the condition
when input samples are smantic ambiguous. Meanwhile, the introduced biological
mechanisms further strengthen the interaction between neuroscience and
information science.


title:
Generation and distribution of high-dimensional frequency-entangled
  qudits

abstract:
  We demonstrate a novel scheme to generate frequency-entangled qudits with
dimension number higher than 10 and to distribute them over optical fibers of
15 km in total length. This scheme combines the technique of spectral
engineering of biphotons generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion
and the technique of spectrally resolved Hong-Ou-Mandel interference. We
characterized the comb-like spectral correlation structures of the qudits by
time of arrival measurement and correlated spectral intensity measurement. The
generation and distribution of the distinct entangled frequency modes may be
useful for quantum cryptography, quantum metrology, quantum remote
synchronization, as well as fundamental test of stronger violation of local
realism.


title:
Dimension reduction for Gaussian process emulation: an application to
  the influence of bathymetry on tsunami heights

abstract:
  High accuracy complex computer models, or simulators, require large resources
in time and memory to produce realistic results. Statistical emulators are
computationally cheap approximations of such simulators. They can be built to
replace simulators for various purposes, such as the propagation of
uncertainties from inputs to outputs or the calibration of some internal
parameters against observations. However, when the input space is of high
dimension, the construction of an emulator can become prohibitively expensive.
In this paper, we introduce a joint framework merging emulation with dimension
reduction in order to overcome this hurdle. The gradient-based kernel dimension
reduction technique is chosen due to its ability to drastically decrease
dimensionality with little loss in information. The Gaussian process emulation
technique is combined with this dimension reduction approach. Our proposed
approach provides an answer to the dimension reduction issue in emulation for a
wide range of simulation problems that cannot be tackled using existing
methods. The efficiency and accuracy of the proposed framework is demonstrated
theoretically, and compared with other methods on an elliptic partial
differential equation (PDE) problem. We finally present a realistic application
to tsunami modeling. The uncertainties in the bathymetry (seafloor elevation)
are modeled as high-dimensional realizations of a spatial process using a
geostatistical approach. Our dimension-reduced emulation enables us to compute
the impact of these uncertainties on resulting possible tsunami wave heights
near-shore and on-shore. We observe a significant increase in the spread of
uncertainties in the tsunami heights due to the contribution of the bathymetry
uncertainties. These results highlight the need to include the effect of
uncertainties in the bathymetry in tsunami early warnings and risk assessments.


title: Homogeneous Besov spaces

abstract:
  This note is based on a series of lectures delivered in Kyoto University.
This note surveys the homogeneous Besov space $\dot{B}^s_{pq}$ on ${\mathbb
R}^n$ with $1 \le p,q \le \infty$ and $s \in {\mathbb R}$ in a rather
self-contained manner. Possible extensions of this type of function spaces are
breifly discussed in the end of this article. In particular, the fundamental
properties are stated for the spaces $\dot{B}^s_{pq}$ with $0<p,q \le \infty$
and $s \in {\mathbb R}$ and $\dot{F}^s_{pq}$ with $0<p<\infty$, $0<q \le
\infty$ and $s \in {\mathbb R}$ as well as nonhomogeneous coupterparts
$B^s_{pq}$ with $0<p,q \le \infty$ and $s \in {\mathbb R}$ and $F^s_{pq}$ with
$0<p<\infty$, $0<q \le \infty$ and $s \in {\mathbb R}$.


title: An observation of the subspaces of ${\mathcal S}'$

abstract:
  The spaces ${\mathcal S}'/{\mathcal P}$ equipped with the quotient topology
and ${\mathcal S}'_\infty$ equipped with the weak-* topology are known to be
homeomorphic, where ${\mathcal P}$ denotes the set of all polynomials. The
proof is a combination of the fact in the textbook by Treves and the well-known
bipolar theorem. In this paper by extending slightly the idea employed in
\cite{NNS15}, we give an alternative proof of this fact and then we extend this
proposition so that we can include some related function spaces.


title: Direct calculation of the critical Casimir force in a binary fluid

abstract:
  We show that critical Casimir effects can be accessed through direct
simulation of a model binary fluid passing through the demixing transition. We
work in the semi grand canonical ensemble, in slab geometry, in which the
Casimir force appears as the excess of the generalized pressure,
$P_{\bot}-n\mu$. The excesses of the perpendicular pressure, $P_{\bot}$, and of
$n\mu$, are individually of much larger amplitude. A critical pressure
anisotropy is observed between forces parallel and perpendicular to the
confinement direction, which collapses onto a universal scaling function
closely related to that of the critical Casimir force.


title: GK Per 2015 dwarf nova covered by Suzaku

abstract:
  The intermediate polar GK Per exhibited a dwarf nova outburst in March-April
2015. Suzaku X-ray telescope serendipitously captured the onset of the outburst
during its pre-scheduled pointing observation spanning four days. In this
paper, we present temporal and spectral analysis results of this outburst,
together with those from archival data of quiescent obtained in 2009 and 2014.
  Our temporal analysis confirmed previously reported spin modulation of X-ray
count rates in outburst with a WD spin period of P_WD=351.4+/-0.5 s. The
modulation is also detected in the hard X-ray band (16-60 keV), and spectral
modeling of the absorption suggests obscuration by a dense absorption with a
line-of-sight column density of N_H>10^23 cm^-2. A complex time evolution of
spin modulation profiles is seen; the spin minimum phase shifts from phase
~0.25 in the first half of the observation to ~0.65 in the second one, and the
pulse shape significantly changes epoch by epoch.
  Spectral fitting in the Fe Kalpha band revealed an increase of the
fluorescent line equivalent width, from ~80 eV (quiescent) to ~140 eV
(outburst). The equivalent widths of He-like and H-like Fe Kalpha are
consistent with being constant at ~40 eV in the two states. Broad-band spectral
fitting in the 2-60 keV band resulted in a sub-solar Fe abundance of ~0.1 Z_sun
and the maximum plasma temperature kT_max~50-60 keV when the isobaric cooling
flow model was applied. Based on the very small temperature change against a
6-7-times increased accretion rate, the accretion geometry in early outburst is
discussed.


title:
Investigation Into The Effectiveness Of Long Short Term Memory Networks
  For Stock Price Prediction

abstract:
  The effectiveness of long short term memory networks trained by
backpropagation through time for stock price prediction is explored in this
paper. A range of different architecture LSTM networks are constructed trained
and tested.


title: Vacuum and nonvacuum black holes in a uniform magnetic field

abstract:
  We modify and generalize the known solution for the electromagnetic field
when a vacuum, stationary, axisymmetric black hole is immersed in a uniform
magnetic field to the case of nonvacuum black holes (of modified gravity) and
determine all linear terms of the vector potential in powers of the magnetic
field and the rotation parameter.


title: Lattice Designs in Standard and Simple Implicit Multi-linear Regression

abstract:
  Statisticians generally use ordinary least squares to minimize the random
error in a subject response with respect to independent explanatory variable.
However, Wooten shows illustrates how ordinary least squares can be used to
minimize the random error in the system without defining a subject response.
Using lattice design Wooten shows that non-response analysis is a superior
alternative rotation of the pyramidal relationship between random variables and
parameter estimates in multi-linear regression. Non-Response Analysis for
simple linear co-linearity and Rotational Analysis in Simple Linear Regression
challenge the notion of fixed effects; unity is included as a random measure
(variable). The illustrations using lattice designs a mean operator that
generates the standard mean and the self-weighing mean, among other point
estimates with random weights; and a join that illustrates variance and
covariance; and develops the measures of variance referred to as internal
co-variance and base variance. These concepts are used to illustrate how these
measures are used to evaluate parameter estimates in standard simple linear
regression and simple implicit regression (non-response and rotational). The
resulting analysis of these lattice designs show standard simple linear
regression limits the relationship by consider the variance in one direction as
relating to the two adjacent co-variances (standard and internal) whereas
non-response analysis defines the relationship in terms of the internal
co-variances and the base variance.


title:
Magnetic resonance imaging of flow and mass transfer in
  electrohydrodynamic liquid bridges

abstract:
  Here we report on the feasibility and use of magnetic resonance imaging based
methods to the study of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) liquid bridges. High speed
tomographic recordings through the longitudinal axis of water bridges were used
to characterize the mass transfer dynamics, mixing, and flow structure. By
filling one beaker with heavy water and the other with light water it was
possible to track the spread of the proton signal throughout the total liquid
volume. The mixing kinetics are different depending on where the light nuclei
are located and proceeds faster when the anolyte is light water. Distinct flow
and mixing regions are identified in the fluid volumes and it is shown that the
EHD flow at the electrodes can be counteracted by the density difference
between water isotopes. MR phase contrast imaging reveals that within the
bridge section two separate counter propagating flows pass one above the other
in the bridge.


title: Radiation influence on the temperature-dependent parameters of fluids

abstract:
  Based on the fundamental Bogolyubov chain of equations, a model relating the
structural and thermophysical properties of the nonequilibrium liquid systems
under irradiation in stationary state is introduced. The obtained results
suggest that the thermophysical properties of the liquid systems under
irradiation are defined by the {\textquotedblleft}effective
temperature{\textquotedblright} that can be calculated from the perturbed
momentum distribution functions of the systems. It is shown that the structural
changes in the liquid systems under irradiation are caused by the changes in
the coefficients of the Maxwell distribution function due to the momentum
exchange between the active particles and the particles forming the liquid. To
confirm the theoretical predictions, a qualitative comparison of the model with
the existing experimental data on irradiation influence on the surface tension
coefficients of liquids is performed.


title:
Note: Sound velocity of a soft sphere model near the fluid-solid phase
  transition

abstract:
  The quasilocalized charge approximation is applied to estimate the sound
velocity of simple soft sphere fluid with the repulsive inverse-power-law
interaction. The obtained results are discussed in the context of the sound
velocity of the hard-sphere system and of liquid metals at the melting
temperature.


title: Helenos: A Realistic Benchmark for Distributed Transactional Memory

abstract:
  Transactional Memory (TM) is an approach to concurrency control that aims to
make writing parallel programs both effective and simple. The approach is
started in non-distributed multiprocessor systems, but is gaining popularity in
distributed systems to synchronize tasks at large scales. Efficiency and
scalability are often the key issues in TM research, so performance benchmarks
are an important part of it. However, while standard TM benchmarks like the
STAMP suite and STMBench7 are available and widely accepted, they do not
translate well into distributed systems. Hence, the set of benchmarks usable
with distributed TM systems is very limited, and must be padded with
microbenchmarks, whose simplicity and artificial nature often makes them
uninformative or misleading. Therefore, this paper introduces Helenos, a
realistic, complex, and comprehensive distributed TM benchmark based on the
problem of the Facebook inbox, an application of the Cassandra distributed
store.


title: Some remarks on the Oleszkiewicz problem

abstract:
  In this paper we study the question how to easily verify that the expectation
of the supremum of a one canonical Bernoulli process dominates the same
quantity for another process of this type. In the setting of Gaussian canonical
processes it is known that such a comparison holds for contractions in the
Euclidean distance. We do state and prove a similar result for Bernoulli
processes. In particular we get a partial answer to the Oleszkiewicz conjecture
about the comparability of weak and strong moments for type Bernoulli series in
a Banach space.


title: Moments approach to the concentration properties of truncated variation

abstract:
  In this paper we show an alternative approach to the concentration of
truncated variation for stochastic processes on a real line. Our method is
based on the moments control and can be used to generalize the results to the
case of processes with heavy tails.


title:
Non-equilibrium thermodynamics and collective vibrational modes of
  liquid water in an inhomogeneous electric field

abstract:
  In this experiment liquid water is subject to an inhomogeneous electric field
(${\nabla}^2 E_a {\approx} 10^{10} \frac{V}{m^2}$ ) using a high voltage (20
kV) point-plane electrode system. With interferometry it was found that the
application of a strong electric field gradient to water generates local
changes in the refractive index of the liquid, polarizes the surface and
creates a downward moving electro-convective jet. A maximum temperature
difference of 1 {\deg}C is measured in the immediate vicinity of the point
electrode. Raman spectroscopy on water reveals an enhancement of the
vibrational collective modes (3250 $cm^{-1}$) as well as an increase in the
local mode (3490 $cm^{-1}$) energy. This bimodal enhancement indicates the
spectral changes are not due to temperature. The intense field gradient thus
establishes an excited subpopulation of vibrational oscillators far from
thermal equilibrium. Delocalization of the collective vibrational mode
spatially expands this excited population beyond the microscale. Hindered
rotational freedom due to electric field pinning of molecular dipoles retards
heat flow and generates a chemical potential gradient. These changes are
responsible for the observed changes in refractive index and temperature. It is
demonstrated that polar liquids can thus support local non-equilibrium
thermodynamic transient states critical to biochemical and environmental
processes.


title: A robust and passive method for geometric calibration of large arrays

abstract:
  This paper presents a complete strategy for the geometry estimation of large
microphone arrays of arbitrary shape. Largeness is intended here in both number
of microphones (hundreds) and size (few meters). Such arrays can be used for
various applications in open or confined spaces like acoustical imaging, source
identification, or speech processing. For so large array systems,measuring the
geometry by hand is impractical. Therefore a blind passive method is proposed.
It is based on the analysis of the background acoustic noise, supposed to be a
diffuse field. The proposed strategy is a two-step process. First the pairwise
microphone distances are identified by matching their measured coherence
function to the one predicted by the diffuse field theory. Second, a robust
multidimensional scaling(MDS) algorithm is adapted and implemented. It takes
advantage of local characteristics to reduce the set of distances and infer the
geometry of the array. This work is an extension of previous studies, and it
overcomes unsolved drawbacks. In particular it deals efficiently with the
outliers known to ruin standard MDS algorithms. Experimental proofs of this
ability are presented by treating the case of two arrays. They show that the
proposed improvements manage large spatial arrays.


title: An instability theorem for nonlinear fractional differential systems

abstract:
  In this paper, we give a criterion on instability of an equilibrium of
nonlinear Caputo fractional differential systems. More precisely, we prove that
if the spectrum of the linearization has at least one eigenvalue in the sector
$$\left\{\lambda\in\C\setminus\{0\}:|\arg{(\lambda)}|<\frac{\alpha
\pi}{2}\right\},$$ where $\alpha\in (0,1)$ is the order of the fractional
differential systems, then the equilibrium of the nonlinear systems is
unstable.


title: Role of Excited States In High-order Harmonic Generation

abstract:
  We investigate the role of excited states in High-order Harmonic Generation
by studying the spectral, spatial and temporal characteristics of the radiation
produced near the ionization threshold of argon by few-cycle laser pulses. We
show that the population of excited states can lead either to direct XUV
emission through Free Induction Decay or to the generation of high-order
harmonics through ionization from these states and recombination to the ground
state. By using the attosecond lighthouse technique, we demonstrate that the
high-harmonic emission from excited states is temporally delayed by a few
femtoseconds compared to the usual harmonics, leading to a strong nonadiabatic
spectral redshift.


title: On smooth manifolds with homotopy type of a homology sphere

abstract:
  In this paper we study $\mathcal M(X)$, the set of diffeomorphism classes of
smooth manifolds with the simple homotopy type of $X$, via a map $\Psi$ from
$\mathcal M(X)$ into the quotient of $K(X)=[X,BSO]$ by the action of the group
of homotopy classes of simple self equivalences of $X$. The map $\Psi$
describes which bundles over $X$ can occur as normal bundles of manifolds in
$\mathcal M(X)$. We determine the image of $\Psi$ when $X$ belongs to a certain
class of homology spheres. In particular, we find conditions on elements of
$K(X)$ that guarantee they are pullbacks of normal bundles of manifolds in
$\mathcal M(X)$.


title: Integro-partial differential equations with singular terminal condition

abstract:
  In this paper, we show that the minimal solution of a backward stochastic
differential equation gives a probabilistic representation of the minimal
viscosity solution of an integro-partial differential equation both with a
singular terminal condition. Singularity means that at the final time, the
value of the solution can be equal to infinity. Different types of regularity
of this viscosity solution are investigated: Sobolev, H{\"o}lder or strong
regularity.


title:
Twist-3 effect from the longitudinally polarized proton for $A_{LT}$ in
  hadron production from $pp$ collisions

abstract:
  We compute the contribution from the longitudinally polarized proton to the
twist-3 double-spin asymmetry $A_{LT}$ in inclusive (light) hadron production
from proton-proton collisions,i.e., $p^\uparrow \vec{p}\to h\,X$. We show that
using the relevant QCD equation-of-motion relation and Lorentz invariance
relation allows one to eliminate the twist-3 quark-gluon correlator (associated
with the longitudinally polarized proton) in favor of one-variable twist-3
quark distributions and the (twist-2) transversity parton density. Including
this result with the twist-3 pieces associated with the transversely polarized
proton and unpolarized final-state hadron (which have already been calculated
in the literature), we now have the complete leading-order cross section for
this process.


title:
Criteria for exponential convergence to quasi-stationary distributions
  and applications to multi-dimensional diffusions

abstract:
  We consider general Markov processes with absorption and provide criteria
ensuring the exponential convergence in total variation of the distribution of
the process conditioned not to be absorbed. The first one is based on two-sided
estimates on the transition kernel of the process and the second one on
gradient estimates on its semigroup. We apply these criteria to
multi-dimensional diffusion processes in bounded domains of $R^d$ or in compact
Riemannian manifolds with boundary, with absorption at the boundary.


title: Can multiple-choice questions simulate free-response questions?

abstract:
  We discuss a study to evaluate the extent to which free-response questions
could be approximated by multiple-choice equivalents. Two carefully designed
research-based multiple-choice questions were transformed into a free-response
format and administered on the final exam in a calculus-based introductory
physics course. The original multiple-choice questions were administered in
another similar introductory physics course on final exam. Findings suggest
that carefully designed multiple-choice questions can reflect the relative
performance of the free-response questions while maintaining the benefits of
ease of grading and quantitative analysis, especially if the different choices
in the multiple-choice questions are weighted to reflect the different levels
of understanding that students display.


title: Women in physics in the United States: recruitment and retention

abstract:
  Initiatives to increase the number, persistence, and success of women in
physics in the US reach pre-teen girls through senior women. Programs exist at
both the local and national levels. In addition, researchers have investigated
issues related to gender equity in physics and physics education. Anecdotal
evidence suggests increased media coverage of the underrepresentation of women
in science. All of these efforts are both motivated and made more effective by
the collection and presentation of data on the presence, persistence, and
promise of women in physics.


title:
A note on certain representations in characteristic p and associated
  functions

abstract:
  We discuss certain representations of GL 2 Fq[T] in equal characteristic and
associated vectorial modular forms


title:
One dimensional light localization with classical scatterers; an
  advanced undergraduate laboratory experiment

abstract:
  The phenomenon of electronic wave localization through disorder was
introduced by Anderson in 1958 in the context of electron transport in solids.
It remains an important area of fundamental and applied research. Localization
of all wave phenomena, including light, is thought to exist in a restricted one
dimensional geometry. We present here a series of experiments which illustrate,
using a simple experimental arrangement and approach, localization of light in
a quasi one dimensional physical system. In the experiments, reflected and
transmitted light from a stack of glass slides of varying thickness reveals an
Ohm's Law type behavior for small thicknesses, and evolution to exponential
decay of the transmitted power for thicker slide stacks. Light absorption is
negligible in our realization of the experiment. For larger stacks of slides,
weak departure from a one dimensional behavior is also observed. The experiment
and analysis of the results, then showing many of the essential features of
wave localization, is relatively straightforward, economical, and suitable for
laboratory experiments at an undergraduate level.


title: Vectorial Drinfeld modular forms over Tate algebras

abstract:
  In this text, we develop the theory of vectorial modular forms with values in
Tate algebras introduced by the first author, in a very special case (dimension
two, for a very particular representation of {\Gamma} := GL 2 (Fq[$theta$])).
Among several results that we prove here, we determine the complete structure
of the modules of these forms, we describe their specializations at roots of
unity and their connection with Drinfeld modular forms for congruence subgroups
of {\Gamma} and we prove that the modules generated by these forms are stable
under the actions of Hecke operators.


title: Parallelisms & Lie Connections

abstract:
  The aim of this article is to study rational parallelisms of algebraic
varieties by means of the transcendence of their symmetries. The nature of this
transcendence is measured by a Galois group built from the Picard-Vessiot
theory of principal connections.


title: A Subdivision Solver for Systems of Large Dense Polynomials

abstract:
  We describe here the package {\tt subdivision\\_solver} for the mathematical
software {\tt SageMath}. It provides a solver on real numbers for square
systems of large dense polynomials. By large polynomials we mean multivariate
polynomials with large degrees, which coefficients have large bit-size. While
staying robust, symbolic approaches to solve systems of polynomials see their
performances dramatically affected by high degree and bit-size of input
polynomials.Available numeric approaches suffer from the cost of the evaluation
of large polynomials and their derivatives.Our solver is based on interval
analysis and bisections of an initial compact domain of $\R^n$ where solutions
are sought. Evaluations on intervals with Horner scheme is performed by the
package {\tt fast\\_polynomial} for {\tt SageMath}.The non-existence of a
solution within a box is certified by an evaluation scheme that uses a Taylor
expansion at order 2, and existence and uniqueness of a solution within a box
is certified with krawczyk operator.The precision of the working arithmetic is
adapted on the fly during the subdivision process and we present a new
heuristic criterion to decide if the arithmetic precision has to be increased.


title: ThFeAsN in Relation to Other Iron-Based Superconductors

abstract:
  The electronic structure, magnetic and structural properties of the
superconductor ThFeAsN are discussed in relation to the Fe-pnictide and
Fe-chalcogenide superconductors based on results of first principles
calculations. The electronic structure is that of a high density of states
semimetal. It shows approximately nested hole and electron Fermi surfaces of Fe
$d$ character involving the $xz,yz$ and $xy$ orbitals. There is a strong
tendency towards magnetism at the GGA level, and this magnetism is important
for describing the Fe-As bonding, but greatly overestimates the magnetic
ordering. The lowest energy magnetic state at the GGA level is the stripe
order, and this particular order couples strongly to electrons near $E_F$.
ThFeAsN is therefore strongly similar to the Fe-pnictide family of
superconductors, although it is a particularly anisotropic member.


title: Anomalous capillary filling and wettability reversal in nanochannels

abstract:
  This work revisits capillary filling dynamics in the regime of nanometric to
subnanometric channels. Using molecular dynamics simulations of water in carbon
nanotubes, we show that for tube radii below one nanometer, both the filling
velocity and the Jurin rise vary non-monotonically with the tube radius.
Strikingly, with fixed chemical surface properties, this leads to
confinement-induced reversal of the tube wettability from hydrophilic to
hydrophobic for specific values of the radius. By comparing with a model liquid
metal, we show that these effects are not specific to water. Using
complementary data from slit channels, we then show that they can be described
using the disjoin-ing pressure associated with the liquid structuring in
confinement. This breakdown of the standard continuum framework is of main
importance in the context of capillary effects in nanoporous media, with
potential interests ranging from membrane selectivity to mechanical energy
storage.


title:
Global sensitivity analysis with 2d hydraulic codes: applied protocol
  and practical tool

abstract:
  Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA) methods are useful tools to rank input
parameters uncertainties regarding their impact on result variability. In
practice, such type of approach is still at an exploratory level for studies
relying on 2D Shallow Water Equations (SWE) codes as GSA requires specific
tools and deals with important computational capacity. The aim of this paper is
to provide both a protocol and a tool to carry out a GSA for 2D hydraulic
modelling applications. A coupled tool between Prom{\'e}th{\'e}e (a parametric
computation environment) and FullSWOF 2D (a code relying on 2D SWE) has been
set up: Prom{\'e}th{\'e}e-FullSWOF 2D (P-FS). The main steps of our protocol
are: i) to identify the 2D hydraulic code input parameters of interest and to
assign them a probability density function, ii) to propagate uncertainties
within the model, and iii) to rank the effects of each input parameter on the
output of interest. For our study case, simulations of a river flood event were
run with uncertainties introduced through three parameters using P-FS tool.
Tests were performed on regular computational mesh, spatially discretizing an
urban area, using up to 17.9 million of computational points. P-FS tool has
been installed on a cluster for computation. Method and P-FS tool successfully
allow the computation of Sobol indices maps. Keywords Uncertainty, flood hazard
modelling, global sensitivity analysis, 2D shallow water equation, Sobol index.
Analyse globale de sensibilit{\'e} en mod{\'e}lisation hydrauliqu{\`e} a
surface libre 2D : application d'un protocole et d{\'e}veloppement d'outils
op{\'e}rationnels -- Les m{\'e}thodes d'analyse de sensibilit{\'e} permettent
de contr{\^o}ler la robustesse des r{\'e}sultats de mod{\'e}lisation ainsi que
d'identifier le degr{\'e} d'influence des param etres d' entr{\'e}e sur le
r{\'e}sultat en sortie d'un mod ele. Le processus complet constitue une analyse
globale de sensibilit{\'e} (GSA). Ce type d'approche pr{\'e}sente un grand
int{\'e}r{\^e}t pour analyser les incer-titudes de r{\'e}sultats de
mod{\'e}lisation , mais est toujours a un stade exploratoire dans les etudes
appliqu{\'e}es mettant en jeu des codes bas{\'e}s sur la r{\'e}solution
bidimensionnelle des equations de Saint-Venant. En effet, l' impl{\'e}mentation
d'une GSA est d{\'e}licate car elle


title:
Properties of Interstellar Medium In Infrared Bright QSOs Probed by [O
  I]63 micron and [C II]158 micron Emission Lines

abstract:
  We present a study of interstellar medium in the host galaxies of 9 QSOs at
0.1<z<0.2 with blackhole masses of $3\times10^7\,M_\odot$ to
$3\times10^9\,M_\odot$ based on the far-IR spectroscopy taken with {\it
Herschel Space Observatory}. We detect the [OI]63$\mu$m ([CII]158$\mu$m)
emission in 6(8) out of 8(9) sources. Our QSO sample has far-infrared
luminosities (LFIR)~several times $10^{11}L_\odot$. The observed line-to-LFIR
ratios (LOI/LFIR and LCII/LFIR) are in the ranges of
$2.6\times10^{-4}$-$10^{-2}$ and $2.8\times10^{-4}$-$2\times10^{-3}$
respectively (including upper limits). These ratios are comparable to the
values found in local ULIRGs, but higher than the average value published so
far for $z$$>$1 IR bright QSOs. One target, W0752+19, shows an additional broad
velocity component (~720 km/s), and exceptionally strong [OI]63$\mu$m emission
with LOI/LFIR of $10^{-2}$, an order of magnitude higher than that of average
value found among local (U)LIRGs. Combining with the analyses of the {\it SDSS}
optical spectra, we conclude that the [OI]63$\mu$m emission in these QSOs is
unlikely excited by shocks. We infer that the broad [OI]63 micron emission in
W0752+19 could arise from the warm and dense ISM in the narrow line region of
the central AGN. Another possible explanation is the existence of a dense gas
outflow with $n_{\rm H}\sim10^4$\,cm$^{-3}$, where the corresponding broad
[CII] emission is suppressed. Based on the far-IR [OI] and [CII] line ratios,
we estimate the constraints on the ISM density and UV radiation field intensity
of $n_{\rm H} \lesssim 10^{3.3}$ cm$^{-3}$ and $10^3<G_0 \lesssim 10^{4.2}$,
respectively. These values are consistent with those found in local Seyfert 1
ULIRGs. In contrast, the gas with broad velocity width in W0752+19 has $n_{\rm
H} \gtrsim 10^{4.3}$ cm$^{-3}$ and $G_0>10^4$.


title: Is the stellar system WR 11 a gamma-ray source?

abstract:
  Many early-type stars are in systems; some of them have been indicated as
putative high-energy emitters. The radiation is expected to be produced at the
region where two stellar winds collide. Compelling evidence of such emission
was found only for the colliding-wind binary (CWB) Eta Car, which was
associated to a GeV source. Very recently, the closest CWB, WR 11, was proposed
as a counterpart of a 6sigma emission excess, measured with the Fermi LAT
satellite. We looked for evidence to support or reject the hypothesis that WR
11 is responsible of the gamma-ray excess. Archive radio interferometric data
at 1.4 and 2.5 GHz taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array along
sixteen different dates were reduced. The sizes of the field-of-view at 2.5 GHz
and of the central region of the Fermi LAT excess are alike. We analyzed the
emission of the field of WR 11, characterized the radio sources detected and
derived their spectral indices, to investigate their nature. Eight sources with
fluxes above 10 mJy were detected at both frequencies. All but one (WR 11)
showed negative spectral indices. Four of them were identified with known
objects, including WR 11. A fifth source, labeled here S6, could be a promising
candidate to produce gamma-ray emission, besides the CWB WR 11.


title: Sums of two ${s}$-units via frey-hellegouarch curves

abstract:
  In this paper, we develop a new method for finding all perfect powers which
can be expressed as the sum of two rational S-units, where S is a finite set of
primes. Our approach is based upon the modularity of Galois representations
and, for the most part, does not require lower bounds for linear forms in
logarithms. Its main virtue is that it enables to carry out such a program
explicitly, at least for certain small sets of primes S; we do so for S = {2,
3} and S = {3, 5, 7}.


title: Spatial Non-Uniformity in Exfoliated WS2 Single layers

abstract:
  Monolayers of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) are atomically thin
two-dimensional crystals with attractive optoelectronic properties, which are
promising for emerging applications in nanophotonics. Here, we report on the
extraordinary spatial non-uniformity of the photoluminescence (PL) and strain
properties of WS2 monolayers exfoliated from the natural crystal. Specifically,
it is shown that the edges of such monolayers exhibit remarkably enhanced PL
intensity compared to their respective central area. A comprehensive analysis
of the recombination channels involved in the PL process demonstrates a spatial
non-uniformity across the monolayer's surface and reflects on the
non-uniformity of the intrinsic electron density across the monolayer. Auger
electron imaging and spectroscopy studies complemented with PL measurements in
different environments indicate that oxygen chemisorption and physisorption are
the two fundamental mechanisms responsible for the observed non-uniformity. At
the same time Raman spectroscopy analysis shows remarkable strain variations
among the different locations of an individual monolayer, however such
variations cannot be strictly correlated with the non-uniform PL emission. Our
results shed light on the role of the chemical bonding on the competition
between exciton complexes in monolayer WS2, providing a way of engineering new
nanophotonic functions using WS2 monolayers. It is therefore envisaged that our
findings could find diverse applications towards the development of TMDs-based
optoelectronic devices.


title: An Incremental Learner for Language-Based Anomaly Detection in XML

abstract:
  The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a complex language, and consequently,
XML-based protocols are susceptible to entire classes of implicit and explicit
security problems. Message formats in XML-based protocols are usually specified
in XML Schema, and as a first-line defense, schema validation should reject
malformed input. However, extension points in most protocol specifications
break validation. Extension points are wildcards and considered best practice
for loose composition, but they also enable an attacker to add unchecked
content in a document, e.g., for a signature wrapping attack.
  This paper introduces datatyped XML visibly pushdown automata (dXVPAs) as
language representation for mixed-content XML and presents an incremental
learner that infers a dXVPA from example documents. The learner generalizes XML
types and datatypes in terms of automaton states and transitions, and an
inferred dXVPA converges to a good-enough approximation of the true language.
The automaton is free from extension points and capable of stream validation,
e.g., as an anomaly detector for XML-based protocols. For dealing with
adversarial training data, two scenarios of poisoning are considered: a
poisoning attack is either uncovered at a later time or remains hidden.
Unlearning can therefore remove an identified poisoning attack from a dXVPA,
and sanitization trims low-frequent states and transitions to get rid of hidden
attacks. All algorithms have been evaluated in four scenarios, including a web
service implemented in Apache Axis2 and Apache Rampart, where attacks have been
simulated. In all scenarios, the learned automaton had zero false positives and
outperformed traditional schema validation.


title:
Chandra X-ray and Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of Optically Selected
  Kiloparsec-Scale Binary Active Galactic Nuclei II: Host Galaxy Morphology and
  AGN Activity

abstract:
  Binary active galactic nuclei (AGNs) provide clues to how gas-rich mergers
trigger and fuel AGNs and how supermassive black hole (SMBH) pairs evolve in a
gas-rich environment. While significant effort has been invested in their
identification, the detailed properties of binary AGNs and their host galaxies
are still poorly constrained. In a companion paper, we examined the nature of
ionizing sources in the double nuclei of four kpc-scale binary AGNs with
redshifts between 0.1~0.2. Here, we present their host galaxy morphology based
on F336W (U-band) and F105W (Y-band) images taken by the Wide Field Camera 3
(WFC3) onboard the Hubble Space Telescope. Our targets have double-peaked
narrow emission lines and were confirmed to host binary AGNs with follow up
observations. We find that kpc-scale binary AGNs occur in galaxy mergers with
diverse morphological types. There are three major mergers with intermediate
morphologies and a minor merger with a dominant disk component. We estimate the
masses of the SMBHs from their host bulge stellar masses and obtain Eddington
ratios for each AGN. Compared with a representative control sample drawn at the
same redshift and stellar mass, the AGN luminosities and Eddington ratios of
our binary AGNs are similar to those of single AGNs. The U-Y color maps
indicate that clumpy star forming regions could significantly affect the X-ray
detection of binary AGNs, e.g., the hardness ratio. Considering the weak X-ray
emission in AGNs triggered in merger systems, we suggest that samples of X-ray
selected AGNs may be biased against gas-rich mergers.


title: Rollerchain, a Blockchain With Safely Pruneable Full Blocks

abstract:
  Bitcoin is the first successful decentralized global digital cash system. Its
mining process requires intense computational resources, therefore its
usefulness remains a disputable topic. We aim to solve three problems with
Bitcoin and other blockchain systems of today by repurposing their work. First,
space to store a blockchain is growing linearly with number of transactions.
Second, a honest node is forced to be irrational regarding storing full blocks
by a way implementations are done. Third, a trustless bootstrapping process for
a new node involves downloading and processing all the transactions ever
written into a blockchain.
  In this paper we present a new consensus protocol for Bitcoin-like
peer-to-peer systems where a right to generate a block is given to a party
providing non-interactive proofs of storing a subset of the past state
snapshots. Unlike the blockchain systems in use today, a network using our
protocol is safe if the nodes prune full blocks not needed for mining.
  We extend the GKL model to describe our Proof-of-Work scheme and a
transactional model modifications needed for it. We provide a detailed analysis
of our protocol and proofs of its security.


title: On Uniqueness of "SDE Decomposition" in A-type Stochastic Integration

abstract:
  An innovative theoretical framework for stochastic dynamics based on a
decomposition of a stochastic differential equation (SDE) has been developed
with an evident advantage in connecting deterministic and stochastic dynamics,
as well as useful applications in physics, engineering, chemistry and biology.
It introduces the A-type stochastic integration for SDE beyond traditional
Ito's or Stratonovich's interpretation. Serious question on its uniqueness was
recently raised. We provide here both mathematical and physical demonstrations
that the uniqueness is guaranteed. Such discussion leads to a better
understanding on the robustness of the novel framework. We also discuss the
limitation of a related approach of obtaining potential function from steady
state distribution.

categories: cond-mat.stat-mech math-ph math.MP q-bio.MN


title:
The VIRUS-P Exploration of Nearby Galaxies (VENGA): Radial Gas Inflow
  and Shock Excitation in NGC 1042

abstract:
  NGC 1042 is a late type bulgeless disk galaxy which hosts a low luminosity
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) coincident with a massive nuclear star cluster. In
this paper, we present the integral-field-spectroscopy (IFS) studies of this
galaxy, based on the data obtained with the Mitchell spectrograph on the 2.7
meter Harlan J. Smith telescope. In the central $100\textrm{-}300\ \mathrm{pc}$
region of NGC 1042, we find a circumnuclear ring structure of gas with enhanced
ionization, which we suggest is mainly induced by shocks. Combining with the
harmonic decomposition analysis of the velocity field of the ionized gas, we
propose that the shocked gas is the result of gas inflow driven by the inner
spiral arms. The inflow velocity is $\sim 32\pm10\ \mathrm{km}\
\mathrm{s}^{-1}$ and the estimated mass inflow rate is $\sim 1.1\pm0.3 \times
10^{-3}\ \mathrm{M}_{\odot}\ \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. The mass inflow rate is about
one hundred times the blackhole's mass accretion rate ($\sim 1.4 \times
10^{-5}\ \mathrm{M}_{\odot}\ \mathrm{ yr}^{-1}$), and slightly larger than the
star formation rate in the nuclear star cluster ($7.94 \times 10^{-4}\
\mathrm{M}_{\odot}\ \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$), implying that the inflow material is
enough to feed both the AGN activity and the star formation in the nuclear star
cluster. Our study highlights that secular evolution can be important in
late-type unbarred galaxies like NGC 1042.


title: Mixed symmetry tensors in the worldline formalism

abstract:
  We consider the first quantised approach to quantum field theory coupled to a
non-Abelian gauge field. Representing the colour degrees of freedom with a
single family of auxiliary variables the matter field transforms in a reducible
representation of the gauge group which - by adding a suitable Chern-Simons
term to the particle action - can be projected onto a chosen fully
(anti-)symmetric representation. By considering F families of auxiliary
variables, we describe how to extend the model to arbitrary tensor products of
F reducible representations, which realises a U(F) "flavour" symmetry on the
worldline particle model. Gauging this symmetry allows the introduction of
constraints on the Hilbert space of the colour fields which can be used to
project onto an arbitrary irreducible representation, specified by a certain
Young Tableau. In particular the occupation numbers of the wavefunction - i.e.
the lengths of the columns (rows) of the Young Tableau - are fixed through the
introduction of Chern-Simons terms. We verify this projection by calculating
the number of colour degrees of freedom associated to the matter field. We
suggest that, using the worldline approach to quantum field theory, this
mechanism will allow the calculation of one-loop scattering amplitudes with the
virtual particle in an arbitrary representation of the gauge group.


title:
Algebraic entropy, symmetries and linearization of quad equations
  consistent on the cube

abstract:
  We discuss the non autonomous nonlinear partial difference equations
belonging to Boll classification of quad graph equations consistent around the
cube. We show how starting from the compatible equations on a cell we can
construct the lattice equations, its B\"acklund transformations and Lax pairs.
By carrying out the algebraic entropy calculations we show that the $H^4$
trapezoidal and the $H^6$ families are linearizable and in a few examples we
show how we can effectively linearize them.


title:
Short-scale Emergence of Classical Geometry, in Euclidean Loop Quantum
  Gravity

abstract:
  We study the euclidean covariant loop-quantum-gravity vertex numerically,
using a cylindrically symmetric boundary state and a convenient value of the
Barbero-Immirzi parameter. We show that a classical geometry emerges already at
low spin. We also recognise the appearance of the degenerate configurations.


title:
Influence of matter geometry on shocked flows-I: Accretion in the
  Schwarzschild metric

abstract:
  This work presents a comprehensive and extensive study to illustrate how the
geometrical configurations of low angular momentum axially symmetric general
relativistic matter flow in Schwarzschild metric may influence the formation of
energy preserving shocks for adiabatic/polytropic accretion as well as of
temperature preserving dissipative shocks for for the isothermal accretion onto
non-rotating astrophysical black holes. The dynamical and thermodynamic states
of post shock polytropic and isothermal flow have been studied extensively for
three possible matter geometries, and it has been thoroughly discussed about
how such states depend on the flow structure, even when the self gravity and
the back reaction on the metric are not taken into account. Main purpose of
this paper is thus to mathematically demonstrate that for non-self gravitating
accretion, various matter geometry, in addition to the corresponding space-time
geometry, controls the shock induced phenomena as observed within the black
hole accretion discs. This work is expected to reveal how the shock generated
phenomena (emergence of the outflows/flare or the behaviour of QPO of the
associated light curves) observed at the close proximity of the horizon depends
on the physical environment of the source harbouring a supermassive black hole.


title: Quote RTs on Twitter: Usage of the New Feature for Political Discourse

abstract:
  Social media platforms provide several social interactional features. Due to
the large scale reach of social media, these interactional features help enable
various types of political discourse. Constructive and diversified discourse is
important for sustaining healthy communities and reducing the impact of echo
chambers. In this paper, we empirically examine the role of a newly introduced
Twitter feature, 'quote retweets' (or 'quote RTs') in political discourse,
specifically whether it has led to improved, civil, and balanced exchange.
Quote RTs allow users to quote the tweet they retweet, while adding a short
comment. Our analysis using content, network and crowd labeled data indicates
that the feature has increased political discourse and its diffusion, compared
to existing features. We discuss the implications of our findings in
understanding and reducing online polarization.


title: Approximately fibering a manifold over an aspherical one

abstract:
  The paper is devoted to the problem when a map from some closed connected
manifold to an aspherical closed manifold approximately fibers, i.e., is
homotopic to Manifold Approximate Fibration. We define obstructions in
algebraic K-theory. Their vanishing is necessary and under certain conditions
sufficient. Basic ingredients are Quinn's thin h-Cobordism Theorem and End
Theorem, and knowledge about the Farrell-Jones Conjectures in algebraic K- and
L-theory and the MAF-Rigidity Conjecture by Hughes-Taylor-Williams.


title: The number of equisingular moduli of a rational surface singularity

abstract:
  We consider a conjectured topological inequality for the number of
equisingular moduli of a rational surface singularity, and prove it in some
natural special cases. When the resolution dual graph is "sufficiently
negative" (in a precise sense), we verify the inequality via an easy
cohomological vanishing theorem, which implies that this number is computed
simply from the graph (Theorem 3.10). To consider an important and less
restrictive meaning of "sufficiently negative" requires a much more difficult
"hard vanishing theorem" (Theorem 4.5), which is false in characteristic p.
Theorem 7.9 verifies the conjectured inequality in this more general situation.
As a corollary, we classify in characteristic p all taut singularities with
reduced fundamental cycle (Theorem 9.2).


title: OptEx: A Deadline-Aware Cost Optimization Model for Spark

abstract:
  We present OptEx, a closed-form model of job execution on Apache Spark, a
popular parallel processing engine. To the best of our knowledge, OptEx is the
first work that analytically models job completion time on Spark. The model can
be used to estimate the completion time of a given Spark job on a cloud, with
respect to the size of the input dataset, the number of iterations, the number
of nodes comprising the underlying cluster. Experimental results demonstrate
that OptEx yields a mean relative error of 6% in estimating the job completion
time. Furthermore, the model can be applied for estimating the cost optimal
cluster composition for running a given Spark job on a cloud under a completion
deadline specified in the SLO (i.e., Service Level Objective). We show
experimentally that OptEx is able to correctly estimate the cost optimal
cluster composition for running a given Spark job under an SLO deadline with an
accuracy of 98%.


title:
Identical phase oscillator networks: bifurcations, symmetry and
  reversibility for generalized coupling

abstract:
  For a system of coupled identical phase oscillators with full permutation
symmetry, any broken symmetries in dynamical behaviour must come from
spontaneous symmetry breaking, i.e. from the nonlinear dynamics of the system.
The dynamics of phase differences for such a system depends only on the
coupling (phase interaction) function $g(\varphi)$ and the number of
oscillators $N$. This paper briefly reviews some results for such systems in
the case of general coupling $g$ before exploring two cases in detail: (a)
general two harmonic form:
$g(\varphi)=q\sin(\varphi-\alpha)+r\sin(2\varphi-\beta)$ and $N$ small (b) the
coupling $g$ is odd or even. We extend previously published bifurcation
analyses to the general two harmonic case, and show for even $g$ that the
dynamics of phase differences has a number of time-reversal symmetries. For the
case of even $g$ with one harmonic it is known the system has $N-2$ constants
of the motion. This is true for $N=4$ and any $g$, while for $N=4$ and more
than two harmonics in $g$, we show the system must have fewer independent
constants of the motion.


title:
OptCon: An Adaptable SLA-Aware Consistency Tuning Framework for
  Quorum-based Stores

abstract:
  Users of distributed datastores that employ quorum-based replication are
burdened with the choice of a suitable client-centric consistency setting for
each storage operation. The above matching choice is difficult to reason about
as it requires deliberating about the tradeoff between the latency and
staleness, i.e., how stale (old) the result is. The latency and staleness for a
given operation depend on the client-centric consistency setting applied, as
well as dynamic parameters such as the current workload and network
condition.We present OptCon, a novel machine learning-based predictive
framework, that can automate the choice of client-centric consistency setting
under user-specified latency and staleness thresholds given in the service
level agreement (SLA). Under a given SLA, OptCon predicts a client-centric
consistency setting that is matching, i.e., it is weak enough to satisfy the
latency threshold, while being strong enough to satisfy the staleness
threshold. While manually tuned consistency settings remain fixed unless
explicitly reconfigured, OptCon tunes consistency settings on a per-operation
basis with respect to changing workload and network state. Using decision tree
learning, OptCon yields 0.14 cross validation error in predicting matching
consistency settings under latency and staleness thresholds given in the SLA.
We demonstrate experimentally that OptCon is at least as effective as any
manually chosen consistency settings in adapting to the SLA thresholds for
different use cases. We also demonstrate that OptCon adapts to variations in
workload, whereas a given manually chosen fixed consistency setting satisfies
the SLA only for a characteristic workload.


title: Simple Mechanisms For Agents With Complements

abstract:
  We study the efficiency of simple auctions in the presence of complements.
[DMSW15] introduced the single-bid auction, and showed that it has a price of
anarchy (PoA) of $O(\log m)$ for complement-free (i.e., subadditive)
valuations. Prior to our work, no non-trivial upper bound on the PoA of single
bid auctions was known for valuations exhibiting complements. We introduce a
hierarchy over valuations, where levels of the hierarchy correspond to the
degree of complementarity, and the PoA of the single bid auction degrades
gracefully with the level of the hierarchy. This hierarchy is a refinement of
the Maximum over Positive Hypergraphs (MPH) hierarchy [FFIILS15], where the
degree of complementarity $d$ is captured by the maximum number of neighbors of
a node in the positive hypergraph representation. We show that the price of
anarchy of the single bid auction for valuations of level $d$ of the hierarchy
is $O(d^2 \log(m/d))$, where $m$ is the number of items. We also establish an
improved upper bound of $O(d \log m)$ for a subclass where every hyperedge in
the positive hypergraph representation is of size at most 2 (but the degree is
still $d$). Finally, we show that randomizing between the single bid auction
and the grand bundle auction has a price of anarchy of at most $O(\sqrt{m})$
for general valuations. All of our results are derived via the smoothness
framework, thus extend to coarse-correlated equilibria and to Bayes Nash
equilibria.


title:
Scattering of a cross-polarized linear wave by a soliton at an optical
  event horizon in a birefringent nanophotonic waveguide

abstract:
  The scattering of a linear wave on an optical event horizon, induced by a
cross polarized soliton, is experimentally and numerically investigated in
integrated structures. The experiments are performed in a dispersion-engineered
birefringent silicon nanophotonic waveguide. In stark contrast with
co-polarized waves, the large difference between the group velocity of the two
cross-polarized waves enables a frequency conversion almost independent on the
soliton wavelength. It is shown that the generated idler is only shifted by 10
nm around 1550 nm over a pump tuning range of 350 nm. Simulations using two
coupled full vectorial nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations fully support the
experimental results.


title: Spin noise of a polariton laser

abstract:
  We report on experimental study of the exciton-polariton emission (PE)
polarization noise below and above the polariton lasing threshold under
continuous wave nonresonant excitation. The experiments were performed with a
high-Q graded 5{\lambda}/2 GaAs/AlGaAs microcavity with three quantum wells in
the strong coupling regime. The PE polarization noise substantially exceeded in
magnitude the shot noise level and, in the studied frequency range (up to 650
MHz), had a flat spectrum. We have found that the PE polarization noise
magnitude dependence on the pump intensity showed specific features that had no
analogy in power dependences of the PE intensity and intensity noise.
Particularly, the linear polarization fluctuations normalized by the emission
intensity showed a remarkably non-monotonic dependence on the pump power. A
theoretical model describing the observed peculiarity of the PE polarization
noise is proposed.


title:
Formation of proto-cluster: a virialized structure from gravo-turbulent
  collapse I. Simulation of cluster formation in collapsing molecular cloud

abstract:
  Stars are often observed to form in clusters. It is therefore important to
understand how such a region of concentrated mass is assembled out of the
diffuse medium and its properties eventually prescribe the important physical
mechanisms and determine the characteristics of the stellar cluster. We study
the formation of a gaseous proto-cluster inside a molecular cloud by performing
high resolution MHD simulations and associate its internal properties to those
of the parent cloud by varying the level of the initial turbulence of the
cloud, with a view to better characterize the subsequent stellar cluster
formation. The gaseous proto-cluster is formed out of global collapse of a
molecular cloud, and has non-negligible rotation due to angular momentum
conservation during the collapse of the object. Most of the star formation
occurs in this region which occupies only a small volume fraction of the whole
cloud. We identify such regions in simulations and compare the gas and sink
particles to observations. The gaseous proto-cluster inferred from simulation
results present a mass-size relation that is compatible with observations. We
stress that the stellar cluster radius, although clearly correlated with the
gas cluster radius, depends sensitively on its definition. Energy analysis is
performed to confirm that the gaseous proto-cluster is a product of
gravo-turbulent reprocessing and that the support of turbulent and rotational
energy against self-gravity yields a state of global virial equilibrium
although collapse is occurring at smaller scale and the cluster is forming
stars actively. This object then serves as the antecedent of the stellar
cluster, to which the energy properties are passed on.


title: Conjugacy growth series of some infinitely generated groups

abstract:
  It is observed that the conjugacy growth series of the infinite fini-tary
symmetric group with respect to the generating set of transpositions is the
generating series of the partition function. Other conjugacy growth series are
computed, for other generating sets, for restricted permutational wreath
products of finite groups by the finitary symmetric group, and for alternating
groups. Similar methods are used to compute usual growth polynomials and
conjugacy growth polynomials for finite symmetric groups and alternating
groups, with respect to various generating sets of transpositions. Computations
suggest a class of finite graphs, that we call partition-complete, which
generalizes the class of semi-hamiltonian graphs, and which is of independent
interest. The coefficients of a series related to the finitary alternating
group satisfy congruence relations analogous to Ramanujan congruences for the
partition function. They follow from partly conjectural "generalized Ramanujan
congruences", as we call them, for which we give numerical evidence in Appendix
C.


title:
Optical performance of an ultra-sensitive horn-coupled
  transition-edge-sensor bolometer with hemispherical backshort in the far
  infrared

abstract:
  The next generation of far infrared space observatories will require
extremely sensitive detectors that can be realized only by combining extremely
low intrinsic noise with high optical efficiency. We have measured the
broad-band optical response of ultra-sensitive TES bolometers (NEP$\approx2\rm\
aW/\sqrt Hz$) in the 30--60-$\mu\rm m$ band where radiation is coupled to the
detectors with a few-moded conical feedhorn and a hemispherical backshort. We
show that these detectors have an optical efficiency of 60% (the ratio of the
power detected by the TES bolometer to the total power propagating through the
feedhorn). We find that the measured optical efficiency can be understood in
terms of the modes propagating through the feedhorn with the aid of a spatial
mode-filtering technique.


title: Composite biasing in Monte Carlo radiative transfer

abstract:
  Biasing or importance sampling is a powerful technique in Monte Carlo
radiative transfer, and can be applied in different forms to increase the
accuracy and efficiency of simulations. One of the drawbacks of the use of
biasing is the potential introduction of large weight factors. We discuss a
general strategy, composite biasing, to suppress the appearance of large weight
factors. We use this composite biasing approach for two different problems
faced by current state-of-the-art Monte Carlo radiative transfer codes: the
generation of photon packages from multiple components, and the penetration of
radiation through high optical depth barriers. In both cases, the
implementation of the relevant algorithms is trivial and does not interfere
with any other optimisation techniques. Through simple test models, we
demonstrate the general applicability, accuracy and efficiency of the composite
biasing approach. In particular, for the penetration of high optical depths,
the gain in efficiency is spectacular for the specific problems that we
consider: in simulations with composite path length stretching, high accuracy
results are obtained even for simulations with modest numbers of photon
packages, while simulations without biasing cannot reach convergence, even with
a huge number of photon packages.


title: Nonconservation of lepton current and asymmetry of relic neutrinos

abstract:
  The neutrino asymmetry in the early universe plasma, $n_\nu - n_{\bar \nu}$,
is calculated both before and after the electroweak phase transition (EWPT).
The leptogenesis before EWPT within the standard model is well known to be
driven by the abelian anomaly in a massless hypercharge field. The generation
of the neutrino asymmetry in the Higgs phase after EWPT, in its turn, has not
been considered previously because of the absence of any quantum anomaly in an
external electromagnetic field for such electroneutral particles as neutrino,
unlike the Adler anomaly for charged left and right polarized massless
electrons in the same electromagnetic field. Using the neutrino Boltzmann
equation, modified by the Berry curvature term in the momentum space, we
establish the violation of the macroscopic neutrino current in plasma after
EWPT and exactly reproduce the nonconservation of the lepton current in the
symmetric phase before EWPT arising in quantum field theory due to the non-zero
lepton hypercharge and corresponding triangle anomaly in an external
hypercharge field. In the last case the violation of the lepton current is
derived through the kinetic approach without the computation of the
corresponding Feynman diagrams. Then the new kinetic equation is applied for
the calculation of the neutrino asymmetry accounting for the the Berry
curvature and the electroweak interaction with background fermions in the Higgs
phase, including the stage after the neutrino decoupling at the absence of
neutrino collisions in plasma. This asymmetry is found to be rather small to be
observed. Thus, a difference of the relic neutrino and antineutrino densities,
if exists, should be acquired mainly in the symmetric phase before EWPT.


title: An Empirical Study of Online Packet Scheduling Algorithms

abstract:
  This work studies online scheduling algorithms for buffer management,
develops new algorithms, and analyzes their performances. Packets arrive at a
release time r, with a non-negative weight w and an integer deadline d. At each
time step, at most one packet is scheduled. The modified greedy (MG) algorithm
is 1.618-competitive for the objective of maximizing the sum of weights of
packets sent, assuming agreeable deadlines. We analyze the empirical behavior
of MG in a situation with arbitrary deadlines and demonstrate that it is at a
disadvantage when frequently preferring maximum weight packets over early
deadline ones. We develop the MLP algorithm, which remedies this problem whilst
mimicking the behavior of the offline algorithm. Our comparative analysis shows
that, although the competitive ratio of MLP is not as good as that of MG, it
performs better in practice. We validate this by simulating the behavior of
both algorithms under a spectrum of simulated parameter settings. Finally, we
propose the design of three additional algorithms, which may help in improving
performance in practice.


title:
Modeling Hurricanes using Principle Component Analysis in conjunction
  with Non-Response Analysis

abstract:
  This paper demonstrates how principle component analysis can be used to
determine the distinct factors that house the terms that explain the variance
among the co-dependent variables and how non-response analysis can be applied
to model the non-functional relationship that exist in a dynamic system.
Moreover, the analysis indicates that there are pumping actions or ebb and flow
between the pressure and the water temperature readings near the surface of the
water days before a tropical storm forms in the Atlantic Basin and that there
is a high correlation between storm conditions and buoy conditions three-four
days before a storm forms. Further analysis shows that that the relationship
among the variables is conical.


title:
Design and implementation of a multi-octave-band audio camera for
  realtime diagnosis

abstract:
  Noise pollution investigation takes advantage of two common methods of
diagnosis: measurement using a Sound Level Meter and acoustical imaging. The
former enables a detailed analysis of the surrounding noise spectrum whereas
the latter is rather used for source localization. Both approaches complete
each other, and merging them into a unique system, working in realtime, would
offer new possibilities of dynamic diagnosis. This paper describes the design
of a complete system for this purpose: imaging in realtime the acoustic field
at different octave bands, with a convenient device. The acoustic field is
sampled in time and space using an array of MEMS microphones. This recent
technology enables a compact and fully digital design of the system. However,
performing realtime imaging with resource-intensive algorithm on a large amount
of measured data confronts with a technical challenge. This is overcome by
executing the whole process on a Graphic Processing Unit, which has recently
become an attractive device for parallel computing.


title:
Development of a modular test system for the silicon sensor R&D of the
  ATLAS Upgrade

abstract:
  High Voltage CMOS sensors are a promising technology for tracking detectors
in collider experiments. Extensive R&D studies are being carried out by the
ATLAS Collaboration for a possible use of HV-CMOS in the High Luminosity LHC
upgrade of the Inner Tracker detector. CaRIBOu (Control and Readout Itk BOard)
is a modular test system developed to test Silicon based detectors. It
currently includes five custom designed boards, a Xilinx ZC706 development
board, FELIX (Front-End LInk eXchange) PCIe card and a host computer. A
software program has been developed in Python to control the CaRIBOu hardware.
CaRIBOu has been used in the testbeam of the HV-CMOS sensor CCPDv4 at CERN.
Preliminary results have shown that the test system is very versatile. Further
development is ongoing to adapt to different sensors, and to make it available
to various lab test stands.


title:
About the corollaries of the soliton-breather models of particles
  tunneling on the example of the nonlinear Klein-Gordon and Schrodinger
  equation

abstract:
  The paper presents soliton-breather models of particles tunneling on the
example of Klein-Gordon and Schrodinger equation nonlinear breathers. It is
shown that in this case the non-linearity registration should lead to spatial
restrictions in breathers wave properties observation and to appearance of
radiation during tunneling. The paper also presents a new type of Schrodinger
equation, which leads to the solutions localization in a space
three-dimensional spherically symmetric case.


title: Mass-like invariants for asymptotically hyperbolic metrics

abstract:
  In this article, we classify the set of asymptotic mass-like invariants for
asymptotically hyperbolic metrics. It turns out that the standard mass is just
one example (but probably the most important one) among the two families of
invariants we find. These invariants are attached to finite-dimensional
representations of the group of isometries of hyperbolic space. They are then
described in terms of wave harmonic polynomials and polynomial solutions to the
linearized Einstein equations in Minkowski space.


title:
Struwe's Decomposition for a Polyharmonic Operator on a compact
  Riemannian Manifold with or without Boundary

abstract:
  Given a high-order elliptic operator on a compact manifold with or without
boundary, we perform the decomposition of Palais-Smale sequences for a
nonlinear problem as a sum of bubbles. This is a generalization of the
celebrated 1984 result of Struwe. Unlike the case of second-order operators,
bubbles close to the boundary might appear. Our result includes the case of a
smooth bounded domain of $\mathbb{R}^n$.


title:
Improving Information Extraction by Acquiring External Evidence with
  Reinforcement Learning

abstract:
  Most successful information extraction systems operate with access to a large
collection of documents. In this work, we explore the task of acquiring and
incorporating external evidence to improve extraction accuracy in domains where
the amount of training data is scarce. This process entails issuing search
queries, extraction from new sources and reconciliation of extracted values,
which are repeated until sufficient evidence is collected. We approach the
problem using a reinforcement learning framework where our model learns to
select optimal actions based on contextual information. We employ a deep
Q-network, trained to optimize a reward function that reflects extraction
accuracy while penalizing extra effort. Our experiments on two databases -- of
shooting incidents, and food adulteration cases -- demonstrate that our system
significantly outperforms traditional extractors and a competitive
meta-classifier baseline.


title: Discovery of new planetary nebulae in the Small Magellanic Cloud

abstract:
  We present six new planetary nebulae (PNe) discovered in the Small Magellanic
Cloud (SMC) from deep UK Schmidt telescope (UKST) narrow band Halpha and
broad-band short-red "SR" continuum images and confirmed spectroscopically.
These 6 preliminary discoveries provide a 6% increase to the previously known
SMC PN population of ~100. Once spectroscopic follow-up of all our newly
identified candidates is complete, we expect to increase the total number of
known SMC PNe by up to 50%. This will permit a significant improvement to
determination of the SMC PN luminosity function (PNLF) and enable further
insights into the chemical evolution and kinematics of the SMC PN population.


title: A possible symplectic framework for Radon-type transforms

abstract:
  Our project is to define Radon-type transforms in symplectic geometry. The
chosen framework consists of symplectic symmetric spaces whose canonical
connection is of Ricci-type. They can be considered as symplectic analogues of
the spaces of constant holomorphic curvature in K\"ahlerian Geometry. They are
characterized amongst a class of symplectic manifolds by the existence of many
totally geodesic symplectic submanifolds. We present a particular class of
Radon type tranforms, associating to a smooth compactly supported function on a
homogeneous manifold $M$, a function on a homogeneous space $N$ of totally
geodesic submanifolds of $M$, and vice versa. We describe some spaces $M$ and
$N$ in such Radon-type duality with $M$ a model of symplectic symmetric space
with Ricci-type canonical connection and $N$ an orbit of totally geodesic
symplectic submanifolds.


title: Object Recognition Based on Amounts of Unlabeled Data

abstract:
  This paper proposes a novel semi-supervised method on object recognition.
First, based on Boost Picking, a universal algorithm, Boost Picking Teaching
(BPT), is proposed to train an effective binary-classifier just using a few
labeled data and amounts of unlabeled data. Then, an ensemble strategy is
detailed to synthesize multiple BPT-trained binary-classifiers to be a
high-performance multi-classifier. The rationality of the strategy is also
analyzed in theory. Finally, the proposed method is tested on two databases,
CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100. Using 2% labeled data and 98% unlabeled data, the
accuracies of the proposed method on the two data sets are 78.39% and 50.77%
respectively.


title: Cohomology of vertex algebras

abstract:
  Let $V$ be a vertex algebra and $M$ a $V$-module. We define the first and
second cohomology of $V$ with coefficients in $M$, and we show that the second
cohomology $H^{2}(V, M)$ corresponds bijectively to the set of equivalence
classes of square-zero extensions of $V$ by $M$. In the case that $M=V$, we
show that the second cohomology $H^{2}(V, V)$ corresponds bijectively to the
set of equivalence classes of first order deformations of $V$.


title: Three temperature plasma shock solutions with gray radiation diffusion

abstract:
  The effects of radiation on the structure of shocks in a fully-ionized plasma
are investigated by solving the steady-state fluid equations for ions,
electrons, and radiation. The electrons and ions are assumed to have the same
bulk velocity but separate temperatures, and the radiation is modeled with the
gray-diffusion approximation. Both electron and ion conduction are included, as
well as ion viscosity. When the material is optically thin, three-temperature
behavior occurs. When the diffusive flux of radiation is important but
radiation pressure is not, two-temperature behavior occurs, with the electrons
strongly coupled to the radiation. Since the radiation heats the electrons on
length scales that are much longer than the electron-ion Coulomb coupling
length scale, these solutions resemble radiative shock solutions rather than
plasma shock solutions that neglect radiation. When radiation pressure is
important, all three components are strongly coupled. Results with constant
values for the transport and coupling coefficients are compared to a full
numerical simulation with a good match between the two, demonstrating that
steady shock solutions constitute a straightforward and comprehensive
verification test methodology for multi-physics numerical algorithms.


title:
Probing the SUSY with $10$ TeV stop mass in rare decays and CP violation
  of Kaon

abstract:
  We probe the SUSY at the $10 \ {\rm TeV}$ scale in the rare decays and the CP
violation of the kaon. We focus on the processes of $K_L \to \pi^0 \nu{\bar
\nu}$ and $K^+ \to \pi^+ \nu{\bar \nu}$ combined with the CP violating
parameters $\epsilon_K$ and $\epsilon_K^\prime/\epsilon_K$. The Z-penguin
mediated by the chargino loop cannot enhance $K_L \to \pi^0 \nu{\bar \nu}$ and
$K^+ \to \pi^+ \nu{\bar \nu}$ because the left-right mixing of the stop is
constrained by the $125$ GeV Higgs mass. On the other hand, the Z-penguin
mediated by the gluino loop can enhance the branching ratios of both $K_L \to
\pi^0 \nu {\bar \nu}$ and $K^+ \to \pi^+ \nu {\bar \nu}$. The former increases
up to more than $1.0 \times 10^{-10}$, which is much larger than the SM
prediction even if the constraint of $\epsilon_K$ is imposed. It is remarkable
that the Z-penguin mediated by the gluino loop can enhance simultaneously
$\epsilon^\prime_K/\epsilon_K$ and the branching ratio of $K_L \to \pi^0 \nu
{\bar \nu}$, which increases up to $1.0 \times 10^{-10}$. We also study the
decay rates of $K_L\rightarrow \mu^+\mu^-$, $B^0\rightarrow \mu^+\mu^-$ and
$B_s\rightarrow \mu^+\mu^-$, which correlate with the $K_L \to \pi^0 \nu {\bar
\nu}$ decay through the Z penguin. It is important to examine the
$B^0\rightarrow \mu^+\mu^-$ process since we expect the enough sensitivity of
this decay mode to the SUSY at LHCb.


title:
ASIC-based Implementation of Synchronous Section-Carry Based Carry
  Lookahead Adders

abstract:
  The section-carry based carry lookahead adder (SCBCLA) topology was proposed
as an improved high-speed alternative to the conventional carry lookahead adder
(CCLA) topology in previous works. Self-timed and FPGA-based implementations of
SCBCLAs and CCLAs were considered earlier, and it was found that SCBCLAs could
help in delay reduction i.e. pave the way for improved speed compared to CCLAs
at the expense of some increase in area and/or power parameters. In this work,
we consider semi-custom ASIC-based implementations of different variants of
SCBCLAs and CCLAs to perform 32-bit dual-operand addition. Based on the
simulation results for 32-bit dual-operand addition obtained by targeting a
high-end 32/28nm CMOS process, it is found that an optimized SCBCLA
architecture reports a 9.8% improvement in figure-of-merit (FOM) compared to an
optimized CCLA architecture, where the FOM is defined as the inverse of the
product of power, delay, and area. It is generally inferred from the
simulations that the SCBCLA architecture could be more beneficial compared to
the CCLA architecture in terms of the design metrics whilst benefitting a
variety of computer arithmetic operations involving dual-operand and/or
multi-operand additions. Also, it is observed that heterogeneous CLA
architectures tend to fare well compared to homogeneous CLA architectures, as
substantiated by the simulation results.


title:
Global versus Local Weak-Indication Self-Timed Function Blocks - A
  Comparative Analysis

abstract:
  This paper analyzes the merits and demerits of global weak-indication
self-timed function blocks versus local weak-indication self-timed function
blocks, implemented using a delay-insensitive data code and adhering to 4-phase
return-to-zero handshaking. A self-timed ripple carry adder is considered as an
example function block for the analysis. The analysis shows that while global
weak-indication could help in optimizing the power, latency and area
parameters, local weak-indication facilitates the optimum performance in terms
of realizing the data-dependent cycle time that is characteristic of a
weak-indication self-timed design.


title: Attosecond Precision Multi-km Laser-Microwave Network

abstract:
  Synchronous laser-microwave networks delivering attosecond timing precision
are highly desirable in many advanced applications, such as geodesy,
very-long-baseline interferometry, high-precision navigation and
multi-telescope arrays. In particular, rapidly expanding photon science
facilities like X-ray free-electron lasers and intense laser beamlines require
system-wide attosecond-level synchronization of dozens of optical and microwave
signals up to kilometer distances. Once equipped with such precision, these
facilities will initiate radically new science by shedding light on molecular
and atomic processes happening on the attosecond timescale, such as
intramolecular charge transfer, Auger processes and their impact on X-ray
imaging. Here, we present for the first time a complete synchronous
laser-microwave network with attosecond precision, which is achieved through
new metrological devices and careful balancing of fiber nonlinearities and
fundamental noise contributions. We demonstrate timing stabilization of a
4.7-km fiber network and remote optical-optical synchronization across a 3.5-km
fiber link with an overall timing jitter of 580 and 680 attoseconds RMS,
respectively, for over 40 hours. Ultimately we realize a complete
laser-microwave network with 950-attosecond timing jitter for 18 hours. This
work can enable next-generation attosecond photon-science facilities to
revolutionize many research fields from structural biology to material science
and chemistry to fundamental physics.


title:
Power, Delay and Area Comparisons of Majority Voters relevant to TMR
  Architectures

abstract:
  N-modular redundancy (NMR) is commonly used to enhance the fault tolerance of
a circuit/system, when subject to a fault-inducing environment such as in space
or military systems, where upsets due to radiation phenomena, temperature
and/or other environmental conditions are anticipated. Triple Modular
Redundancy (TMR), which is a 3-tuple version of NMR, is widely preferred for
mission-control space, military, and aerospace, and safety-critical nuclear,
power, medical, and industrial control and automation systems. The TMR scheme
involves the two-times duplication of a simplex system hardware, with a
majority voter ensuring correctness provided at least two out of three copies
of the hardware remain operational. Thus the majority voter plays a pivotal
role in ensuring the correct operation of the TMR scheme. In this paper, a
number of standard-cell based majority voter designs relevant to TMR
architectures are presented, and their power, delay and area parameters are
estimated based on physical realization using a 32/28nm CMOS process.


title:
Unsupervised Category Discovery via Looped Deep Pseudo-Task Optimization
  Using a Large Scale Radiology Image Database

abstract:
  Obtaining semantic labels on a large scale radiology image database (215,786
key images from 61,845 unique patients) is a prerequisite yet bottleneck to
train highly effective deep convolutional neural network (CNN) models for image
recognition. Nevertheless, conventional methods for collecting image labels
(e.g., Google search followed by crowd-sourcing) are not applicable due to the
formidable difficulties of medical annotation tasks for those who are not
clinically trained. This type of image labeling task remains non-trivial even
for radiologists due to uncertainty and possible drastic inter-observer
variation or inconsistency.
  In this paper, we present a looped deep pseudo-task optimization procedure
for automatic category discovery of visually coherent and clinically semantic
(concept) clusters. Our system can be initialized by domain-specific (CNN
trained on radiology images and text report derived labels) or generic
(ImageNet based) CNN models. Afterwards, a sequence of pseudo-tasks are
exploited by the looped deep image feature clustering (to refine image labels)
and deep CNN training/classification using new labels (to obtain more task
representative deep features). Our method is conceptually simple and based on
the hypothesized "convergence" of better labels leading to better trained CNN
models which in turn feed more effective deep image features to facilitate more
meaningful clustering/labels. We have empirically validated the convergence and
demonstrated promising quantitative and qualitative results. Category labels of
significantly higher quality than those in previous work are discovered. This
allows for further investigation of the hierarchical semantic nature of the
given large-scale radiology image database.