title:
Evolutionary computation for multicomponent problems: opportunities and
  future directions

abstract:
  Over the past 30 years many researchers in the field of evolutionary
computation have put a lot of effort to introduce various approaches for
solving hard problems. Most of these problems have been inspired by major
industries so that solving them, by providing either optimal or near optimal
solution, was of major significance. Indeed, this was a very promising
trajectory as advances in these problem-solving approaches could result in
adding values to major industries. In this paper we revisit this trajectory to
find out whether the attempts that started three decades ago are still aligned
with the same goal, as complexities of real-world problems increased
significantly. We present some examples of modern real-world problems, discuss
why they might be difficult to solve, and whether there is any mismatch between
these examples and the problems that are investigated in the evolutionary
computation area.


title: A New Twist on Wythoff's Game

abstract:
  Wythoff's Game is a game for two players playing alternately on two stacks of
tiles. On her turn, a player can either remove a positive number of tiles from
one stack, or remove an equal positive number of tiles from both stacks. The
last player to move legally wins the game. We propose and study a new extension
of this game to more than two stacks, which we call Twyst-off, inspired by the
Reidemeister moves of knot theory. From an ordered sequence of stacks of tiles,
a player may either remove a positive number of tiles from one of the two end
stacks, or remove the same positive number of tiles from two consecutive
stacks. Whenever an interior stack is reduced to 0, the two neighboring stacks
are combined. In this paper, we prove several results about those Twyst-off
positions that can be won by the second player (these are called P-positions).
We prove an existence and uniqueness result that makes the visualization of
data on three-stack P-positions possible. This shows that many such positions
are symmetric, like the easy general examples (a,a,a) and (a,a+1,a). The main
result establishes tight bounds on those three-stack P-positions that are not
symmetric. We go on to prove one general structural result for positions with
an arbitrary number of stacks. We also prove facts about the game when allowing
stacks of infinite size, including classifying all positions with only infinite
stacks in sequences of up to six stacks.


title:
Divergent discourse between protests and counter-protests:
  #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter

abstract:
  Since the shooting of Black teenager Michael Brown by White police officer
Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, the protest hashtag #BlackLivesMatter has
amplified critiques of extrajudicial killings of Black Americans. In response
to #BlackLivesMatter, other Twitter users have adopted #AllLivesMatter, a
counter-protest hashtag whose content argues that equal attention should be
given to all lives regardless of race. Through a multi-level analysis of over
860,000 tweets, we study how these protests and counter-protests diverge by
quantifying aspects of their discourse. We find that #AllLivesMatter
facilitates opposition between #BlackLivesMatter and hashtags such as
#PoliceLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter in such a way that historically echoes
the tension between Black protesters and law enforcement. In addition, we show
that a significant portion of #AllLivesMatter use stems from hijacking by
#BlackLivesMatter advocates. Beyond simply injecting #AllLivesMatter with
#BlackLivesMatter content, these hijackers use the hashtag to directly confront
the counter-protest notion of "All lives matter." Our findings suggest that
Black Lives Matter movement was able to grow, exhibit diverse conversations,
and avoid derailment on social media by making discussion of counter-protest
opinions a central topic of #AllLivesMatter, rather than the movement itself.


title:
Measurement device independent quantum key distribution over 404 km
  optical fibre

abstract:
  Quantum key distribution (QKD) can provide unconditional secure communication
between two distant parties. Although the significance of QKD is undisputed,
its feasibility has been questioned because of certain limitations in the
practical application of real-life QKD systems. It is a common belief the lack
of perfect single-photon source and the existence of detection loss will
handicap the feasibility of QKD by creating security loopholes and distance
limitations. The measurement device independent QKD (MDIQKD) with decoy-state
method removes the security threats from both the imperfect single-photon
source and the detection loss. Lengthening the distance and improving the key
rate of QKD with such a superior method is thus the central issue in the
practical application of QKD. Here, we report the results of MDIQKD over 404 km
of ultralow-loss optical fibre and 311 km of standard optical fibre by
employing an optimized four-intensity decoy-state method. This record-breaking
implementation of MDIQKD method not only provides a new distance record for
both MDIQKD and all types of QKD systems, more significantly, it achieves a
distance that the traditional BB84 QKD would not be able to achieve with the
same detection devices even with ideal single-phone sources. For the first
time, our work demonstrates that with the MDIQKD method, imperfect devices can
achieve better results than what ideal sources could have achieved. This work
represents a significant step towards proving and developing a feasible
long-distance QKD.


title: Hyperpolarized Nanodiamond Surfaces

abstract:
  The widespread use of nanodiamond as a biomedical platform for drug-delivery,
imaging, and sub-cellular tracking applications stems from their non-toxicity
and unique quantum mechanical properties. Here, we extend this functionality to
the domain of magnetic resonance, by demonstrating that the intrinsic electron
spins on the nanodiamond surface can be used to hyperpolarize adsorbed liquid
compounds at room temperature. By combining relaxation measurements with
hyperpolarization, spins on the surface of the nanodiamond can be distinguished
from those in the bulk liquid. These results are likely of use in signaling the
controlled release of pharmaceutical payloads.


title:
Measurement of the $WW$ and $WZ$ production cross section using final
  states with a charged lepton and heavy-flavor jets in the full CDF Run II
  data set

abstract:
  We present a measurement of the total {\it WW} and {\it WZ} production cross
sections in $p\bar{p}$ collision at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV, in a final state
consistent with leptonic $W$ boson decay and jets originating from heavy-flavor
quarks from either a $W$ or a $Z$ boson decay. This analysis uses the full data
set collected with the CDF II detector during Run II of the Tevatron collider,
corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.4 fb$^{-1}$. An analysis of the
dijet mass spectrum provides $3.7\sigma$ evidence of the summed production
processes of either {\it WW} or {\it WZ} bosons with a measured total cross
section of $\sigma_{WW+WZ} = 13.7\pm 3.9$~pb. Independent measurements of the
{\it WW} and {\it WZ} production cross sections are allowed by the different
heavy-flavor decay-patterns of the $W$ and $Z$ bosons and by the analysis of
secondary-decay vertices reconstructed within heavy-flavor jets. The
productions of {\it WW} and of {\it WZ} dibosons are independently seen with
significances of $2.9\sigma$ and $2.1\sigma$, respectively, with total cross
sections of $\sigma_{WW}= 9.4\pm 4.2$~pb and
$\sigma_{WZ}=3.7^{+2.5}_{-2.2}$~pb. The measurements are consistent with
standard-model predictions.


title:
Planetesimal Formation by Gravitational Instability of a Porous-Dust
  Disk

abstract:
  Recently it is proposed that porous icy dust aggregates are formed by
pairwise accretion of dust aggregates beyond the snowline. We calculate the
equilibrium random velocity of porous dust aggregates taking into account
mutual gravitational scattering, collisions, gas drag, and turbulent stirring
and scattering. We find that the disk of porous dust aggregates becomes
gravitationally unstable as they evolve through gravitational compression in
the minimum-mass solar nebula model for a reasonable range of turbulence
strength, which leads to rapid formation of planetesimals.


title:
Hausdorff dimension of concentration for isentropic compressible
  Navier-Stokes equations

abstract:
  The concentration phenomenon of the kinetic energy, $\rho|\mathbf{u}|^2$,
associated to isentropic compressible Navier-Stokes equations, is addressed in
$\mathbb{R}^n$ with $n=2,3$ and the adiabatic constant
$\gamma\in[1,\frac{n}{2}]$. Except a space-time set with Hausdorff dimension
less than or equal to $\Gamma(n)+1$ with $$ \Gamma(n)=\max\left\{\gamma(n),
n-\frac{n\gamma}{\gamma(n)+1}\right\}\quad\textrm{and}\quad\gamma(n)=\frac{n(n-1)-n\gamma}{n-\gamma},$$
no concentration phenomenon occurs.


title: Note on Terminal-Pairability in Complete Grid Graphs

abstract:
  We affirmatively answer and generalize the question of Kubicka, Kubicki and
Lehel concerning the path-pairability of high-dimensional complete grid graphs.
As an intriguing by-product of our result we significantly improve the estimate
of the necessary maximum degree in path-pairable graphs, a question originally
raised and studied by Faudree, Gy\'arf\'as, and Lehel.


title: Delta excitation in deuteron-proton elastic scattering

abstract:
  Deuteron-proton elastic scattering is studied in the multiple scattering
expansion formalism. The four contributions are taken into account:
one-nucleon-exchange, single- and double scattering, and $\Delta$-isobar
excitation. The presented approach was applied to describe the differential
cross sections at deuteron energies between 500 and 1300 MeV in a whole angular
range. The obtained results are compared with the experimental data.


title: Model-based clustering based on sparse finite Gaussian mixtures

abstract:
  In the framework of Bayesian model-based clustering based on a finite mixture
of Gaussian distributions, we present a joint approach to estimate the number
of mixture components and identify cluster-relevant variables simultaneously as
well as to obtain an identified model. Our approach consists in specifying
sparse hierarchical priors on the mixture weights and component means. In a
deliberately overfitting mixture model the sparse prior on the weights empties
superfluous components during MCMC. A straightforward estimator for the true
number of components is given by the most frequent number of non-empty
components visited during MCMC sampling. Specifying a shrinkage prior, namely
the normal gamma prior, on the component means leads to improved parameter
estimates as well as identification of cluster-relevant variables. After
estimating the mixture model using MCMC methods based on data augmentation and
Gibbs sampling, an identified model is obtained by relabeling the MCMC output
in the point process representation of the draws. This is performed using
$K$-centroids cluster analysis based on the Mahalanobis distance. We evaluate
our proposed strategy in a simulation setup with artificial data and by
applying it to benchmark data sets.


title: Brexit or Bremain ? Evidence from bubble analysis

abstract:
  We applied the Johansen-Ledoit-Sornette (JLS) model to detect possible
bubbles and crashes related to the Brexit/Bremain referendum scheduled for 23rd
June 2016. Our implementation includes an enhanced model calibration using
Genetic Algorithms. We selected a few historical financial series sensitive to
the Brexit/Bremain scenario, representative of multiple asset classes. We found
that equity and currency asset classes show no bubble signals, while rates,
credit and real estate show super-exponential behaviour and instabilities
typical of bubble regime. Our study suggests that, under the JLS model, equity
and currency markets do not expect crashes or sharp rises following the
referendum results. Instead, rates and credit markets consider the referendum a
risky event, expecting either a Bremain scenario or a Brexit scenario
edulcorated by central banks intervention. In the case of real estate, a crash
is expected, but its relationship with the referendum results is unclear.

categories: q-fin.RM q-fin.CP q-fin.EC q-fin.GN q-fin.ST


title: Catching jetted tidal disruption events early in millimetre

abstract:
  Relativistic jets can form from at least some tidal disruption events (TDEs)
of (sub-)stellar objects around supermassive black holes. We detect the
millimeter (MM) emission of IGR J12580+0134 --- the nearest TDE known in the
galaxy NGC 4845 at the distance of only 17 Mpc, based on Planck all-sky survey
data. The data show significant flux jumps after the event, followed by
substantial declines, in all six high frequency Planck bands from 100 GHz to
857 GHz. We further show that the evolution of the MM flux densities are well
consistent with our model prediction from an off-axis jet, as was initially
suggested from radio and X-ray observations. This detection represents the
second TDE with MM detections; the other is Sw J1644+57, an on-axis jetted TDE
at redshift of 0.35. Using the on- and off-axis jet models developed for these
two TDEs as templates, we estimate the detection potential of similar events
with the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) and the Atacama Large
Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Assuming an exposure of one hour, we
find that the LMT (ALMA) can detect jetted TDEs up to redshifts $z\sim1$ (2),
for a typical disrupted star mass of $\sim1$ M$_\odot$. The detection rates of
on- and off-axis TDEs can be as high as $\sim0.6$ (13) and 10 (220) per year,
respectively, for the LMT (ALMA). We briefly discuss how such observations,
together with follow-up radio monitoring, may lead to major advances in
understanding the jetted TDEs themselves and the ambient environment of the
CNM.


title: Prospects for Precise Measurements with Echo Atom Interferometry

abstract:
  Echo atom interferometers have emerged as interesting alternatives to Raman
interferometers for the realization of precise measurements of the
gravitational acceleration $g$ and the determination of the atomic fine
structure through measurements of the atomic recoil frequency $\omega_q$. Here
we review the development of different configurations of echo interferometers
that are best suited to achieve these goals. We describe experiments that
utilize near-resonant excitation of laser-cooled rubidium atoms by a sequence
of standing wave pulses to measure $\omega_q$ with a statistical uncertainty of
37 parts per billion (ppb) on a time scale of $\sim 50$ ms and $g$ with a
statistical precision of 75 ppb. Related coherent transient techniques that
have achieved the most statistically precise measurements of atomic g-factor
ratios are also outlined. We discuss the reduction of prominent systematic
effects in these experiments using off-resonant excitation by low-cost,
high-power lasers.


title:
Model-independent test of the FLRW metric, the flatness of the Universe,
  and non-local measurement of $H_0r_\mathrm{d}$

abstract:
  Using measurements of $H(z)$ and $d_\mathrm{A}(z)$ from the Baryon
Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) DR12 and luminosity distances from the
Joint Lightcurve Analysis (JLA) compilation of supernovae (SN), we measure $H_0
r_\mathrm{d}$ without any model assumption. Our measurement of $H_0
r_\mathrm{d} = $($10033.20^{+333.10}_{-371.81}$ (SN) $\pm$ 128.19 (BAO)) km
s$^{-1}$ is consistent with Planck constrains for the flat {\Lambda}CDM model.
We also report that higher expansion history rates $h(z)$ (among the
possibilities) as well as lower-bound values of $H_0 r\mathrm{d}$ result in
better internal consistency among the independent data (H(z)rd and
$d_\mathrm{A}(z)/r_\mathrm{d}$ from BAO at $z=0.32$ and z=0.57 and
$d_\mathrm{L}$ from JLA) we used in this work. This can be interpreted as an
interesting and independent support of Planck cosmology without using any
cosmic microwave background data. We then combine these observables to test the
Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) metric and the flatness of the
Universe in a model-independent way at two redshifts, namely 0.32 and 0.57, by
introducing a new diagnostic for flat-FLRW, $\Theta(z)$, which only depends on
observables of BAO and SN data. Our results are consistent with a flat-FLRW
Universe within $2{\sigma}$.


title: Modernizing Quantum Annealing using Local Searches

abstract:
  I describe how real quantum annealers may be used to perform local (in state
space) searches around specified states, rather than the global searches
traditionally implemented in the quantum annealing algorithm. Such protocols
will have numerous advantages over simple quantum annealing. By using such
searches the effect of problem mis-specification can be reduced, as only energy
differences between the searched states will be relevant. The quantum annealing
algorithm is an analogue of simulated annealing, a classical numerical
technique which has now been superseded. Hence, I explore two strategies to use
an annealer in a way which takes advantage of modern classical optimization
algorithms. Specifically, I show how sequential calls to quantum annealers can
be used to construct analogues of population annealing and parallel tempering
which use quantum searches as subroutines. The techniques given here can be
applied not only to optimization, but also to sampling. I examine the
feasibility of these protocols on real devices and note that implementing such
protocols should require minimal if any change to the current design of the
flux qubit-based annealers by D-Wave Systems Inc. I further provide
proof-of-principle numerical experiments based on quantum Monte Carlo that
demonstrate simple examples of the discussed techniques.


title:
Pure circular polarization electroluminescence at room temperature with
  spin-polarized light-emitting diodes

abstract:
  We report the room-temperature electroluminescence (EL) with nearly pure
circular polarization (CP) from GaAs-based spin-polarized light-emitting diodes
(spin-LEDs). External magnetic fields are not used during device operation.
There are two small schemes in the tested spin-LEDs: firstly, the
stripe-laser-like structure that helps intensifying the EL light at the cleaved
side walls below the spin injector Fe slab, and secondly, the crystalline AlOx
spin tunnel barrier that ensures electrically stable device operation. The
purity of CP is depressively low in the low current density (J) region, whereas
it increases steeply and reaches close to the pure CP when J = 100 A/cm2.
There, either right- or left-handed CP component is significantly suppressed
depending on the direction of magnetization of the spin injector.
Spin-dependent re-absorption, spin-induced birefringence and optical spin-axis
conversion are suggested to account for the observed experimental results.


title: Prisoner's dilemma on directed networks

abstract:
  We study the prisoner's dilemma model with a noisy imitation evolutionary
dynamics on directed out-homogeneous and uncorrelated directed random networks.
An heterogeneous pair mean-field approximation is presented showing good
agreement with Monte Carlo simulations in the limit of weak selection (high
noise) where we obtain analytical predictions for the critical temptations. We
discuss the phase diagram as a function of temptation, intensity of noise and
coordination number of the networks and we consider both the model with and
without self-interaction. We compare our results with available results for
non-directed lattices and networks.


title:
From a quasimolecular band insulator to a relativistic Mott insulator in
  $t_{2g}^5$ systems with a honeycomb lattice structure

abstract:
  The $t_{2g}$ orbitals of an edge-shared transition-metal oxide with a
honeycomb lattice structure form dispersionless electronic bands when only
hopping mediated by the edge-sharing oxygens is accessible. This is due to the
formation of isolated quasimolecular orbitals (QMOs) in each hexagon,
introduced recently by Mazin et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 197201 (2012)],
which stabilizes a band insulating phase for $t_{2g}^5$ systems. However, with
help of the exact diagonalization method to treat the electron kinetics and
correlations on an equal footing, we find that the QMOs are fragile against not
only the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) but also the Coulomb repulsion. We show that
the electronic phase of $t_{2g}^5$ systems can vary from a quasimolecular band
insulator to a relativistic $J_{\rm eff}=1/2$ Mott insulator with increasing
the SOC as well as the Coulomb repulsion. The different electronic phases
manifest themselves in electronic excitations observed in optical conductivity
and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering. Based on our calculations, we assert
that the currently known Ru$^{3+}$- and Ir$^{4+}$-based honeycomb systems are
far from the quasimolecular band insulator but rather the relativistic Mott
insulator.


title: Lagrangian calculus for nonsymmetric diffusion operators

abstract:
  We characterize lower bounds for the Bakry-Emery Ricci tensor of nonsymmetric
diffusion operators by convexity of entropy on the $L^2$-Wasserstein space, and
define a curvature-dimension condition for general metric measure spaces
together with a square integrable $1$-form in the sense of
\cite{giglinonsmooth}. This extends the Lott-Sturm-Villani approach for lower
Ricci curvature bounds of metric measure spaces. In generalized smooth context,
consequences are new Bishop-Gromov estimates, pre-compactness under measured
Gromov-Hausdorff convergence, and a Bonnet-Myers theorem that generalizes
previous results by Kuwada \cite{kuwadamaximaldiameter}. We show that
$N$-warped products together with lifted vector fields satisfy the
curvature-dimension condition. For smooth Riemannian manifolds we derive an
evolution variational inequality and contraction estimates for the dual
semigroup of nonsymmetric diffusion operators. Another theorem of Kuwada
\cite{kuwadaduality, kuwadaspacetime} yields Bakry-Emery gradient estimates.


title:
New error bounds for linear complementarity problems of Nekrasov
  matrices and B-Nekrasov matrices

abstract:
  New error bounds for the linear complementarity problems are given
respectively when the involved matrices are Nekrasov matrices and B-Nekrasov
matrices. Numerical examples are given to show that new bounds are better
respectively than those provided by Garcia-Esnaola and Pena in [15,16] in some
cases.


title: Distribution of current fluctuations in a bistable conductor

abstract:
  We measure the full distribution of current fluctuations in a single-electron
transistor with a controllable bistability. The conductance switches randomly
between two levels due to the tunneling of single electrons in a separate
single-electron box. The electrical fluctuations are detected over a wide range
of time scales and excellent agreement with theoretical predictions is found.
For long integration times, the distribution of the time-averaged current obeys
the large-deviation principle. We formulate and verify a fluctuation relation
for the bistable region of the current distribution.


title: Person Identification Based on Hand Tremor Characteristics

abstract:
  A plethora of biometric measures have been proposed in the past. In this
paper we introduce a new potential biometric measure: the human tremor. We
present a new method for identifying the user of a handheld device using
characteristics of the hand tremor measured with a smartphone built-in inertial
sensors (accelerometers and gyroscopes). The main challenge of the proposed
method is related to the fact that human normal tremor is very subtle while we
aim to address real-life scenarios. To properly address the issue, we have
relied on weighted Fourier linear combiner for retrieving only the tremor data
from the hand movement and random forest for actual recognition. We have
evaluated our method on a database with 10 000 samples from 17 persons reaching
an accuracy of 76%.


title:
Probabilistic Models for Integration Error in the Assessment of
  Functional Cardiac Models

abstract:
  This paper studies the numerical computation of integrals, representing
estimates or predictions, over the output $f(x)$ of a computational model with
respect to a distribution $p(\mathrm{d}x)$ over uncertain inputs $x$ to the
model. For the functional cardiac models that motivate this work, neither $f$
nor $p$ possess a closed-form expression and evaluation of either requires
$\approx$ 100 CPU hours, precluding standard numerical integration methods. Our
proposal is to treat integration as an estimation problem, with a joint model
for both the a priori unknown function $f$ and the a priori unknown
distribution $p$. The result is a posterior distribution over the integral that
explicitly accounts for dual sources of numerical approximation error due to a
severely limited computational budget. This construction is applied to account,
in a statistically principled manner, for the impact of numerical errors that
(at present) are confounding factors in functional cardiac model assessment.


title:
Effects of initial telomere length distribution on senescence onset and
  heterogeneity

abstract:
  Replicative senescence, induced by telomere shortening, exhibits considerable
asynchrony and heterogeneity, the origins of which remain unclear. Here, we
formally study how telomere shortening mechanisms impact on senescence kinetics
and define two regimes of senescence, depending on the initial telomere length
variance. We provide analytical solutions to the model, highlighting a
non-linear relationship between senescence onset and initial telomere length
distribution. This study reveals the complexity of the collective behavior of
telomeres as they shorten, leading to senescence heterogeneity.


title: Ultrafast terahertz responses in monolayer graphene

abstract:
  We theoretically investigate the ultrafast terahertz(THz) properties of
monolayer graphene. The analytical formulations of the photon carrier, electric
polarization and optical current are obtained by solving the Bloch-equations in
present of the ultrafast THz Gaussian pulse. Graphene shows a large nonlinear
and ultrafast optical response at THz frequencies due to the gapless and
relativistic Dirac particles with nearly linear energy dispersion. It is found
that the photon carrier density, electric polarization and optical current
density increase with increasing the frequency of the THz pulse. These
theoretical results are in agreement with recent experimental findings. This
study confirms further that graphene exhibits important features and is
relevant to the applications in the ultrafast THz fields.


title:
Perturbations of Admissibility, Exact Controllability, Exact
  Observability and Regularity

abstract:
  This paper is concerned with the notions of admissibility, exact
controllability, exact observability and regularity of linear systems in the
Banach space setting. It is proved that admissible controllability, exact
controllability, admissible observation, exact observability and regularity are
invariant under some regular perturbations of the generators, such results are
generalizations of some previous references. Moreover, the related boundary
linear systems and some illustrative examples are presented.


title: Means refinements via convexity

abstract:
  The main goal of this article is to find the exact difference between a
convex function and its secant, as a limit of positive quantities. This idea
will be expressed as a convex inequality that leads to refinements and
reversals of well established inequalities treating different means. The
significance of these inequalities is to write one inequality that brings
together and refine almost all known inequalities treating the arithmetic,
geometric, harmonic and Heinz means, for numbers and operators.


title:
Competitive Equilibria for Non-quasilinear Bidders in Combinatorial
  Auctions

abstract:
  Quasiliearity is a ubiquitous and questionable assumption in the standard
study of Walrasian equilibria. Quasilinearity implies that a buyer's value for
goods purchased in a Walrasian equilibrium is always additive with goods
purchased with unspent money. It is a particularly suspect assumption in
combinatorial auctions, where buyers' complex preferences over goods would
naturally extend beyond the items obtained in the Walrasian equilibrium.
  We study Walrasian equilibria in combinatorial auctions when quasilinearity
is not assumed. We show that existence can be reduced to an Arrow-Debreu style
market with one divisible good and many indivisible goods, and that a
"fractional" Walrasian equilibrium always exists. We also show that standard
integral Walrasian equilibria are related to integral solutions of an induced
configuration LP associated with a fractional Walrasian equilibrium,
generalizing known results for both quasilinear and non-quasilnear settings.


title: Hot and dense water in the inner 25 AU of SVS13-A

abstract:
  In the context of the ASAI (Astrochemical Surveys At IRAM) project, we
carried out an unbiased spectral survey in the millimeter window towards the
well known low-mass Class I source SVS13-A. The high sensitivity reached (3-12
mK) allowed us to detect at least 6 HDO broad (FWHM ~ 4-5 km/s) emission lines
with upper level energies up to Eu = 837 K. A non-LTE LVG analysis implies the
presence of very hot (150-260 K) and dense (> 3 10^7 cm-3) gas inside a small
radius ($\sim$ 25 AU) around the star, supporting, for the first time, the
occurrence of a hot corino around a Class I protostar.
  The temperature is higher than expected for water molecules are sublimated
from the icy dust mantles (~ 100 K). Although we cannot exclude we are observig
the effects of shocks and/or winds at such small scales, this could imply that
the observed HDO emission is tracing the water abundance jump expected at
temperatures ~ 220-250 K, when the activation barrier of the gas phase
reactions leading to the formation of water can be overcome. We derive X(HDO) ~
3 10-6, and a H2O deuteration > 1.5 10-2, suggesting that water deuteration
does not decrease as the protostar evolves from the Class 0 to the Class I
stage.


title: Advanced refinements of Young and Heinz inequalities

abstract:
  In this article, we prove several multi-term refinements of Young type
inequalities for both real numbers and operators improving several known
results. Among other results, we prove \begin{eqnarray*}
A\#_{\nu}B&+&\sum_{j=1}^{N}s_{j}(\nu)\left(A\#_{\alpha_j(\nu)}B+A\#_{2^{1-j}+\alpha_j(\nu)}B-2A\#_{2^{-j}+\alpha_j(\nu)}B\right)\leq
A\nabla_{\nu}B, \end{eqnarray*} for the positive operators $A$ and $B$, where
$0\leq \nu\leq 1, N\in\mathbb{N}$ and $\alpha_j(\nu)$ is a certain function.
Moreover, some new Heinz type inequalities involving the Hilbert-Schmidt norm
are established.


title: Pitowsky's Kolmogorovian models and Super-Determinism

abstract:
  In an attempt to demonstrate that local hidden variables are mathematically
possible, Pitowsky constructed "spin-$\frac12$ functions" and later
"Kolmogorovian models", which employs a nonstandard notion of probability. We
describe Pitowsky's analysis and argue (with the benefit of hindsight) that his
notion of hidden variables is in fact just super-determinism (and accordingly
physically not relevant). Pitowsky's first construction uses the Continuum
Hypothesis. Farah and Magidor took this as an indication that at some stage
physics might give arguments for or against adopting specific new axioms of set
theory. We would rather argue that it supports the opposing view, i.e., the
widespread intuition "if you need a non-measurable function, it is physically
irrelevant".


title:
Online games: a novel approach to explore how partial information
  influences human random searches

abstract:
  Many natural processes rely on optimizing the success ratio of a search
process. We use an experimental setup consisting of a simple online game in
which players have to find a target hidden on a board, to investigate the how
the rounds are influenced by the detection of cues. We focus on the search
duration and the statistics of the trajectories traced on the board. The
experimental data are explained by a family of random-walk-based models and
probabilistic analytical approximations. If no initial information is given to
the players, the search is optimized for cues that cover an intermediate
spatial scale. In addition, initial information about the extension of the cues
results, in general, in faster searches. Finally, strategies used by informed
players turn into non-stationary processes in which the length of each
displacement evolves to show a well-defined characteristic scale that is not
found in non-informed searches.

categories: physics.bio-ph cond-mat.stat-mech physics.soc-ph q-bio.PE


title: Dynamics of supernova remnants in the Galactic Centre

abstract:
  The Galactic centre (GC) is a unique place to study the extreme dynamical
processes occurring near a super-massive black hole (SMBH). Here we simulate a
large set of binaries orbiting the SMBH while the primary member undergoes a
supernova (SN) explosion, in order to study the impact of SN kicks on the
orbits of stars and dark remnants in the GC. We find that SN explosions are
efficient in scattering neutron stars and other light stars on new (mostly
eccentric) orbits, while black holes (BHs) tend to retain memory of the orbit
of their progenitor star. SN kicks are thus unable to eject BHs from the GC: a
cusp of dark remnants may be lurking in the central parsec of our Galaxy.


title: A multilevel nonvolatile magnetoelectric memory based on memtranstor

abstract:
  The coexistence and coupling between magnetization and electric polarization
in multiferroic materials provide extra degrees of freedom for creating
next-generation memory devices. A variety of concepts of multiferroic or
magnetoelectric memories have been proposed and explored in the past decade.
Here we propose a new principle to realize a multilevel nonvolatile memory
based on the multiple states of the magnetoelectric coefficient ({\alpha}) of
multiferroics. Because the states of {\alpha} depends on the relative
orientation between magnetization and polarization, one can reach different
levels of {\alpha} by controlling the ratio of up and down ferroelectric
domains with external electric fields. Our experiments in a device made of the
PMN-PT/Terfenol-D multiferroic heterostructure confirm that the states of
{\alpha} can be well controlled between positive and negative by applying
selective electric fields. Consequently, two-level, four-level, and eight-level
nonvolatile memory devices are demonstrated at room temperature. This kind of
multilevel magnetoelectric memory retains all the advantages of ferroelectric
random access memory but overcomes the drawback of destructive reading of
polarization. In contrast, the reading of {\alpha} is nondestructive and highly
efficient in a parallel way, with an independent reading coil shared by all the
memory cells.


title: An analysis of the TDNNS method using natural norms

abstract:
  The Tangential-Displacement Normal-Normal-Stress (TDNNS) method is a finite
element method for mixed elasticity. As the name suggests, the tangential
component of the displacement vector as well as the normal-normal component of
the stress are the degrees of freedom of the finite elements. The TDNNS method
was shown to converge of optimal order, and to be robust with respect to shear
and volume locking. However, the method is slightly nonconforming, and an
analysis with respect to the natural norms of the arising spaces was still
missing. We present a sound mathematical theory of the infinite dimensional
problem using the space H(curl) for the displacement. We define the space H(div
div) for the stresses and provide trace operators for the normal-normal stress.
Moreover, the finite element problem is shown to be stable with respect to the
H(curl) and a discrete H(div div) norm. A-priori error estimates of optimal
order with respect to these norms are obtained.


title: Model-based Deep Hand Pose Estimation

abstract:
  Previous learning based hand pose estimation methods does not fully exploit
the prior information in hand model geometry. Instead, they usually rely a
separate model fitting step to generate valid hand poses. Such a post
processing is inconvenient and sub-optimal. In this work, we propose a model
based deep learning approach that adopts a forward kinematics based layer to
ensure the geometric validity of estimated poses. For the first time, we show
that embedding such a non-linear generative process in deep learning is
feasible for hand pose estimation. Our approach is verified on challenging
public datasets and achieves state-of-the-art performance.


title: Amplitude and size scaling for interchange motions of plasma filaments

abstract:
  The interchange dynamics and velocity scaling of blob-like plasma filaments
are investigated using a two-field reduced fluid model. For incompressible
flows due to buoyancy the maximum velocity is proportional to the square root
of the relative amplitude and the square root of its cross-field size. For
compressible flows in a non-uniform magnetic field this square root scaling
only holds for ratios of amplitudes to cross-field sizes above a certain
threshold value. For small amplitudes and large sizes, the maximum velocity is
proportional to the filament amplitude. The acceleration is proportional to the
amplitude and independent of the cross-field size in all regimes. This is
demonstrated by means of numerical simulations and explained by the energy
integrals satisfied by the model.


title: Beam Test Results of High Q CBPM prototype for SXFEL

abstract:
  Aiming at high precision beam position measurement of micron or sub-micron
for Shanghai Soft X-ray free electron laser (SXFEL) facility which is being
built in site of the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), Shanghai
Institute of Applied Physics has developed a high Q cavity beam position
monitor (CBPM) that the resonant frequency is 4.7 GHz and relevant BPM
electronics include dedicated RF front-end and home-made digital BPM (DBPM)
also has been done. The cavity design, cold test, system architecture and the
beam test with three adjacent pickups has been performed in Shanghai Deep
ultraviolet free electron laser(SDUV-FEL) facility are included. The beam
experiment results show that the physical design of our CBPM is consistent with
the expectations basically and the beam position resolution can fulfill the
resolution requirements for the SXFEL project if we optimize the beam
conditions.


title: On Amalgamated Banach algebras

abstract:
  Let $A$ and $B$ be Banach algebras, $\theta: A\to B$ be a continuous Banach
algebra homomorphism and $I$ be a closed ideal in $B$. Then the direct sum of
$A$ and $I$ with respect to $\theta$, denoted $A\bowtie^{\theta}I$, with a
special product becomes a Banach algebra which is called the amalgamated Banach
algebra. In this paper, among other things, we compute the topological centre
of $A\bowtie^{\theta}I$ in terms of that of $A$ and $I$. Using this, we provide
a characterization of the Arens regularity of $A\bowtie^{\theta}I$. Then we
determine the character space of $A\bowtie^{\theta}I$ in terms of that of $A$
and $I$. Moreover, we study the weak amenability of $A\bowtie^{\theta}I$.


abstract:
  The class of Cyclotomic Aperiodic Substitution Tilings (CAST) is introduced.
Its vertices are supported on the 2n-th cyclotomic field. It covers a wide
range of known aperiodic substitution tilings of the plane with finite
rotations. Substitution matrices and minimal inflation multipliers of CASTs are
discussed as well as practical use cases to identify specimen with individual
dihedral symmetry Dn or D2n, i.e. the tiling contains an infinite number of
patches of any size with dihedral symmetry Dn or D2n only by iteration of
substitution rules on a single tile.


title:
Identification of High-Momentum Top Quarks, Higgs Bosons, and W and Z
  Bosons Using Boosted Event Shapes

abstract:
  At the Large Hadron Collider, numerous physics processes expected within the
standard model and theories beyond it give rise to very high momentum particles
decaying to multihadronic final states. Development of algorithms for efficient
identification of such "boosted" particles while rejecting the background from
multihadron jets from light quarks and gluons can greatly aid in the
sensitivity of measurements and new particle searches. This paper presents a
new method for identifying boosted high-mass particles using event shapes in
Lorentz-boosted reference frames. Variables calculated in these frames for
multihadronic jets can then be used as input to a large artificial neural
network to discriminate their origin.


title: Integral group rings with all central units trivial

abstract:
  The object of study in this paper is the finite groups whose integral group
rings have only trivial central units. Prime-power groups and metacyclic groups
with this property are characterized. Metacyclic groups are classified
according to the central height of the unit groups of their integral group
rings.


title: B-anomalies related to leptons and lepton flavour universality violation

abstract:
  Several experiments observed deviations from the Standard Model (SM) in the
flavour sector: LHCb found a $4-5\,\sigma$ discrepancy compared to the SM in
$b\to s\mu^+\mu^-$ transitions (recently supported by an Belle analysis) and
CMS reported a non-zero measurement of $h\to\mu\tau$ with a significance of
$2.4\,\sigma$. Furthermore, BELLE, BABAR and LHCb founds hints for the
violation of flavour universality in $B\to D^{(*)}\tau\nu$. In addition, there
is the long-standing discrepancy in the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon.
Interestingly, all these anomalies are related to muons and taus, while the
corresponding electron channels seem to be SM like. This suggests that these
deviations from the SM might be correlated and we briefly review some selected
models providing simultaneous explanations.


title:
Variable stars and stellar populations in Andromeda XXV: III. A central
  cluster or the galaxy nucleus?

abstract:
  We present B and V time-series photometry of Andromeda XXV, the third galaxy
in our program on the Andromeda's satellites, that we have imaged with the
Large Binocular Cameras of the Large Binocular Telescope. The field of
Andromeda XXV is found to contain 63 variable stars, for which we present light
curves and characteristics of the light variation (period, amplitudes,
variability type, mean magnitudes, etc.). The sample includes 58 RR Lyrae
variables (46 fundamental-mode $-$ RRab, and 12 first-overtone $-$RRc,
pulsators), three anomalous Cepheids, one eclipsing binary system and one
unclassified variable. The average period of the RRab stars ($\langle Pab
\rangle$ = 0.60 $\sigma=0.04$ days) and the period-amplitude diagram place
Andromeda XXV in the class of the Oosterhoff-Intermediate objects. From the
average luminosity of the RR Lyrae stars we derive for the galaxy a distance
modulus of (m-M)$_0$=$24.63\pm0.17$ mag. The color-magnitude diagram reveals
the presence in Andromeda XXV of a single, metal-poor ([Fe/H]=$-$1.8 dex)
stellar population as old as $\sim$ 10-12 Gyr traced by a conspicuous red giant
branch and the large population of RR Lyrae stars. We discovered a
spherically-shaped high density of stars near the galaxy center. This structure
appears to be at a distance consistent with Andromeda XXV and we suggest it
could either be a star cluster or the nucleus of Andromeda XXV. We provide a
summary and compare number and characteristics of the pulsating stars in the
M31 satellites analyzed so far for variability.


title: The global distribution of magnetic helicity in the solar corona

abstract:
  By defining an appropriate field line helicity, we apply the powerful concept
of magnetic helicity to the problem of global magnetic field evolution in the
Sun's corona. As an ideal-magnetohydrodynamic invariant, the field line
helicity is a meaningful measure of how magnetic helicity is distributed within
the coronal volume. It may be interpreted, for each magnetic field line, as a
magnetic flux linking with that field line. Using magneto-frictional
simulations, we investigate how field line helicity evolves in the
non-potential corona as a result of shearing by large-scale motions on the
solar surface. On open magnetic field lines, the helicity injected by the Sun
is largely output to the solar wind, provided that the coronal relaxation is
sufficiently fast. But on closed magnetic field lines, helicity is able to
build up. We find that the field line helicity is non-uniformly distributed,
and is highly concentrated in twisted magnetic flux ropes. Eruption of these
flux ropes is shown to lead to sudden bursts of helicity output, in contrast to
the steady flux along the open magnetic field lines.

categories: astro-ph.SR physics.flu-dyn physics.plasm-ph physics.space-ph


title:
A Curriculum Learning Method for Improved Noise Robustness in Automatic
  Speech Recognition

abstract:
  The performance of automatic speech recognition systems under noisy
environments still leaves room for improvement. Speech enhancement or feature
enhancement techniques for increasing noise robustness of these systems usually
add components to the recognition system that need careful optimization. In
this work, we propose the use of a relatively simple curriculum training
strategy called accordion annealing (ACCAN). It uses a multi-stage training
schedule where samples at signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) values as low as 0dB are
first added and samples at increasing higher SNR values are gradually added up
to an SNR value of 50dB. We also use a method called per-epoch noise mixing
(PEM) that generates noisy training samples online during training and thus
enables dynamically changing the SNR of our training data. Both the ACCAN and
the PEM methods are evaluated on a end-to-end speech recognition pipeline on
the Wall Street Journal corpus. ACCAN decreases the average word error rate
(WER) on the 20dB to -10dB SNR range by up to 31.4% when compared to a
conventional multi-condition training method.


title: On the Moment Distance Between Sensors and Anchor Points

abstract:
  The present paper contains additional asymptotic result over an earlier
investigation of Kapelko and Kranakis.
  Consider $n$ mobile sensors placed independently at random with the uniform
distribution on the unit interval $[0,1]$. Fix $a$ an odd natural number. Let
$X_i$ be the the $i-$th closest sensor to $0$ on the interval $[0,1].$ Then the
following identity holds
$$\sum_{i=1}^n\mathbf{E}\left[\left|X_i-\left(\frac{i}{n}-\frac{1}{2n}\right)\right|^a\right]=\frac{\Gamma\left(\frac{a}{2}+1\right)}{2^{\frac{a}{2}}(1+a)}\frac{1}{n^{\frac{a}{2}-1}}+O\left(\frac{1}{n^{\frac{a-1}{2}}}\right),$$
when $a$ is an odd natural number, where $\Gamma(z)$ is the Gamma function.


title: Plasmon-Exciton-Polariton Lasing

abstract:
  Metallic nanostructures provide a toolkit for the generation of coherent
light below the diffraction limit. Plasmonic based lasing relies on the
population inversion of emitters (such as organic fluorophores) along with
feedback provided by plasmonic resonances. In this regime, known as weak light
matter coupling, the radiative characteristics of the system can be described
by the Purcell effect. Strong light matter coupling between the molecular
excitons and electromagnetic field generated by the plasmonic structures leads
to the formation of hybrid quasi-particles known as plasmon exciton polaritons
(PEPs). Due to the bosonic character of these quasi particles, exciton
polariton condensation can lead to laser-like emission at much lower threshold
powers than in conventional photon lasers. Here, we observe PEP lasing through
a dark plasmonic mode in an array of metallic nanoparticles with a low
threshold in an optically pumped organic system. Interestingly, the threshold
power of the lasing is reduced by increasing the degree of light matter
coupling in spite of the degradation of the quantum efficiency of the active
material, highlighting the ultrafast dynamic responsible for the lasing, i.e.,
stimulated scattering. These results demonstrate a unique roomtemperature
platform for exploring the physics of exciton polaritons in an open cavity
architecture and pave the road toward the integration of this on-chip lasing
device with the current photonics and active metamaterial planar technologies.


title:
Exact Solution for Chameleon Field, Self-Coupled Through the
  Ratra-Peebles Potential with n = 1 and Confined Between Two Parallel Plates

abstract:
  We calculate the chameleon field profile, confined between two parallel
plates, filled with air at pressure $P = 10^{-4}\,{\rm mbar}$ and room
temperature and separated by the distance $L$, in the chameleon field theory
with Ratra--Peebles self--interaction potential with index $n = 1$. We give the
exact analytical solution in terms of Jacobian elliptic functions, depending on
the mass density of the ambient matter. The obtained analytical solution can be
used in qBounce experiments, measuring transition frequencies between quantum
gravitational states of ultracold neutrons and also for the calculation of the
chameleon field induced Casimir force for the CANNEX experiment. We show that
the chameleon--matter interactions with coupling constants $\beta \le 10^4$ can
be probed by qBounce experiments with sensitivities $\Delta E \le
10^{-18}\,{\rm eV}$. At $L = 30.1\,{\rm \mu m}$ we reproduce the result $\beta
< 5.8\times 10^8$, obtained by Jenke {\it et al.} Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 112},
151105 (2014)) at sensitivity $\Delta E \sim 10^{-14}\,{\rm eV}$. In the
vicinity of one of the plates our solution coincides with the solution,
obtained by Brax and Pignol (Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 107}, 111301 (2011)) (see
also Ivanov {\it et al.} Phys. Rev. D {\bf 87}, 105013 (2013)) above a plate at
zero density of the ambient matter.


title:
Lattice energies of molecular solids from the random phase approximation
  with singles corrections

abstract:
  We use the random phase approximation (RPA) method with the singles
correlation energy contributions to calculate lattice energies of ten molecular
solids. While RPA gives too weak binding, underestimating the reference data by
$13.7$\% on average, much improved results are obtained when the singles are
included at the GW singles excitations (GWSE) level, with average absolute
difference to the reference data of only $3.7$\%. Consistently with previous
results, we find a very good agreement with the reference data for hydrogen
bonded systems, while the binding is too weak for systems where dispersion
forces dominate. In fact, the overall accuracy of the RPA+GWSE method is
similar to an estimated accuracy of the reference data.


title: Optomechanics with a polarization non-degenerate cavity

abstract:
  Experiments in the field of optomechanics do not yet fully exploit the photon
polarization degree of freedom. Here experimental results for an optomechanical
interaction in a polarization nondegenerate system are presented and schemes
are proposed for how to use this interaction to perform accurate side-band
thermometry and to create novel forms of photon-phonon entanglement. The
experimental system utilizes the compressive force in the mirror attached to a
mechanical resonator to create a micro-mirror with two radii of curvature which
leads, when combined with a second mirror, to a significant polarization
splitting of the cavity modes.


title:
On the influence of the intermolecular potential on the wetting
  properties of water on silica surfaces

abstract:
  We study the wetting properties of water on silica surfaces using molecular
dynamics (MD) simulations. To describe the intermolecular interaction between
water and silica atoms, two types of interaction potential models are used: the
standard Br\'odka and Zerda (BZ) model, and the Gulmen and Thompson (GT) model.
We perform an in-depth analysis of the influence of the choice of the potential
on the arrangement of the water molecules in partially filled pores and on top
of silica slabs. We find that at moderate pore filling ratios, the GT silica
surface is completely wetted by water molecules, which agrees well with
experimental findings, while the commonly used BZ surface is less hydrophilic
and is only partially wetted. We interpret our simulation results using an
analytical calculation of the phase diagram of water in partially filled pores.
Moreover, an evaluation of the contact angle of the water droplet on top of the
silica slab reveals that the interaction becomes more hydrophilic with
increasing slab thickness and saturates around 2.5-3 nm, in agreement with the
experimentally found value. Our analysis also shows that the hydroaffinity of
the surface is mainly determined by the electrostatic interaction, but that the
van der Waals interaction nevertheless is strong enough that it can turn a
hydrophobic surface into a hydrophilic surface.


title:
A Comprehensive Study of Deep Bidirectional LSTM RNNs for Acoustic
  Modeling in Speech Recognition

abstract:
  We present a comprehensive study of deep bidirectional long short-term memory
(LSTM) recurrent neural network (RNN) based acoustic models for automatic
speech recognition (ASR). We study the effect of size and depth and train
models of up to 8 layers. We investigate the training aspect and study
different variants of optimization methods, batching, truncated
backpropagation, different regularization techniques such as dropout and $L_2$
regularization, and different gradient clipping variants.
  The major part of the experimental analysis was performed on the Quaero
corpus. Additional experiments also were performed on the Switchboard corpus.
Our best LSTM model has a relative improvement in word error rate of over 14\%
compared to our best feed-forward neural network (FFNN) baseline on the Quaero
task. On this task, we get our best result with an 8 layer bidirectional LSTM
and we show that a pretraining scheme with layer-wise construction helps for
deep LSTMs.
  Finally we compare the training calculation time of many of the presented
experiments in relation with recognition performance.
  All the experiments were done with RETURNN, the RWTH extensible training
framework for universal recurrent neural networks in combination with RASR, the
RWTH ASR toolkit.


title: Multi-Party Protocols, Information Complexity and Privacy

abstract:
  We introduce a new information theoretic measure that we call Public
Information Complexity (PIC), as a tool for the study of multi-party
computation protocols, and of quantities such as their communication
complexity, or the amount of randomness they require in the context of
information-theoretic private computations. We are able to use this measure
directly in the natural asynchronous message-passing peer-to-peer model and
show a number of interesting properties and applications of our new notion: the
Public Information Complexity is a lower bound on the Communication Complexity
and an upper bound on the Information Complexity; the difference between the
Public Information Complexity and the Information Complexity provides a lower
bound on the amount of randomness used in a protocol; any communication
protocol can be compressed to its Public Information Cost; an explicit
calculation of the zero-error Public Information Complexity of the $k$-party,
$n$-bit Parity function, where a player outputs the bit-wise parity of the
inputs. The latter result also establishes that the amount of randomness needed
by a private protocol that computes this function is $\Omega(n)$.


title:
Personality, Culture, and System Factors - Impact on Affective Response
  to Multimedia

abstract:
  Whilst affective responses to various forms and genres of multimedia content
have been well researched, precious few studies have investigated the combined
impact that multimedia system parameters and human factors have on affect.
Consequently, in this paper we explore the role that two primordial dimensions
of human factors - personality and culture - in conjunction with system factors
- frame rate, resolution, and bit rate - have on user affect and enjoyment of
multimedia presentations. To this end, a two-site, cross-cultural study was
undertaken, the results of which produced three predictve models. Personality
and Culture traits were shown statistically to represent 5.6% of the variance
in positive affect, 13.6% in negative affect and 9.3% in enjoyment. The
correlation between affect and enjoyment, was significant. Predictive modeling
incorporating human factors showed about 8%, 7% and 9% improvement in
predicting positive affect, negative affect and enjoyment respectively when
compared to models trained only on system factors. Results and analysis
indicate the significant role played by human factors in influencing affect
that users experience while watching multimedia.


title: New bounds for the sum of the first $n$ prime numbers

abstract:
  In this paper we establish a general asymptotic formula for the sum of the
first $n$ prime numbers, which leads to a generalization of the most accurate
asymptotic formula given by Massias and Robin. Further we prove a series of
results concerning Mandl's inequality on the sum of the first $n$ prime
numbers. We use these results to find new explicit estimates for the sum of the
first $n$ prime numbers, which improve the currently best known estimates.


title:
Unusual anisotropic response of the charge carrier mobility to uniaxial
  mechanical strain in Rubrene crystals

abstract:
  Charge transport in Rubrene single crystals under uniaxial mechanical strain
is systematically investigated in the crystal's two in-plane transport
directions both under tensile and compressive strain applied parallel or
perpendicular to the current direction. The density of trap states remains
unchanged. The field-effect mobility as a benchmark figures for intermolecular
transport is found to increase with compressive strain and vice versa with a
magnitude of -1.5 cm2/Vs per percent of strain independently of tranport
direction. A very remarkable result is the mobility change when the crystal is
strained perpendicular to the transport direction. While this enhancement could
be quantitatively explained from an improved wave-function overlap, mobility in
the perpendicular direction improves even more, contrary to simple geometric
considerations based od later expansion and usual Poisson ratios. This result
emphasises the central role of the stress induced variations of the dynamics
wave function overlap in organic molecular crystals.


title: Torsion 1-cycles and the coniveau spectral sequence

abstract:
  We relate the torsion part of the Abel-Jacobi kernel in the Griffiths group
of 1-cycles to a birational invariant analogous to the degree 4 unramified
cohomology and an invariant associated to the generalized Hodge conjecture in
degree 2dim(X)-3. We also describe in terms of H-cohomology the Griffiths group
of 1-cycles and the group of torsion cycles algebraically equivalent to zero of
arbitrary dimension.


title: Formal Dependability Modeling and Analysis: A Survey

abstract:
  Dependability is an umbrella concept that subsumes many key properties about
a system, including reliability, maintainability, safety, availability,
confidentiality, and integrity. Various dependability modeling techniques have
been developed to effectively capture the failure characteristics of systems
over time. Traditionally, dependability models are analyzed using
paper-and-pencil proof methods and computer based simulation tools but their
results cannot be trusted due to their inherent inaccuracy limitations. The
recent developments in probabilistic analysis support using formal methods have
enabled the possibility of accurate and rigorous dependability analysis. Thus,
the usage of formal methods for dependability analysis is widely advocated for
safety-critical domains, such as transportation, aerospace and health. Given
the complementary strengths of mainstream formal methods, like theorem proving
and model checking, and the variety of dependability models judging the most
suitable formal technique for a given dependability model is not a
straightforward task. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of
existing formal dependability analysis techniques along with their pros and
cons for handling a particular dependability model.


title:
Response solutions for forced systems with large dissipation and
  arbitrary frequency vectors

abstract:
  We study the behaviour of one-dimensional strongly dissipative systems
subject to a quasi-periodic force. In particular we are interested in the
existence of response solutions, that is quasi-periodic solutions having the
same frequency vector as the forcing term. Earlier results available in the
literature show that, when the dissipation is large enough and a suitable
function involving the forcing has a simple zero, response solutions can be
proved to exist and to be attractive provided some Diophantine condition is
assumed on the frequency vector. In this paper we show that the results extend
to the case of arbitrary frequency vectors.


title: Kagome Lattice from Exciton-Polariton Perspective

abstract:
  We study a system of microcavity pillars arranged into a kagome lattice. We
show that polarization-dependent tunnel coupling of microcavity pillars leads
to the emergence of the effective spin-orbit interaction consisting of the
Dresselhaus and Rashba terms, similar to the case of polaritonic graphene
studied earlier. Appearance of the effective spin-orbit interaction combined
with the time-reversal symmetry-breaking resulting from the application of the
magnetic field leads to the nontrivial topological properties of the Bloch
bundles of polaritonic wavefunction. These are manifested in opening of the gap
in the band structure and topological edge states localized on the boundary.
Such states are analogs of the edge states arising in topological insulators.
Our study of polarization properties of the edge states clearly demonstrate
that opening of the gap is associated with the band inversion in the region of
the Dirac points of the Brillouin zone where the two bands corresponding to
polaritons of opposite polarizations meet. For one particular type of boundary
we observe a highly nonlinear energy dispersion of the edge state which makes
polaritonic kagome lattice a promising system for observation of edge state
solitons.


title: Non-decreasable extremal Beltrami differentials of non-landslide type

abstract:
  In this paper, we deform a uniquely-extremal Beltrami differential into
different non-decreasable Beltrami differentials, and then construct non-unique
extremal Beltrami differentials such that they are both non-landslide and
non-decreasable.


title: Algebraic modal correspondence: Sahlqvist and beyond

abstract:
  The present paper proposes a new introductory treatment of the very well
known Sahlqvist correspondence theory for classical modal logic. The first
motivation for the present treatment is {\em pedagogical}: classical Sahlqvist
correspondence is presented in a uniform and modular way, and, unlike the
existing textbook accounts, extends itself to a class of formulas laying
outside the Sahlqvist class proper. The second motivation is {\em
methodological}: the present treatment aims at highlighting the {\em algebraic}
and {\em order-theoretic} nature of the correspondence mechanism. The
exposition remains elementary and does not presuppose any previous knowledge or
familiarity with the algebraic approach to logic. However, it provides the
underlying motivation and basic intuitions for the recent developments in the
Sahlqvist theory of nonclassical logics, which compose the so-called unified
correspondence theory.


title: Qatar Exoplanet Survey : Qatar-3b, Qatar-4b and Qatar-5b

abstract:
  We report the discovery of Qatar-3b, Qatar-4b, and Qatar-5b, three new
transiting planets identified by the Qatar Exoplanet Survey (QES). The three
planets belong to the hot Jupiter family, with orbital periods of
$P_{Q3b}$=2.50792 days, $P_{Q4b}$=1.80539 days, and $P_{Q5b}$=2.87923 days.
Follow-up spectroscopic observations reveal the masses of the planets to be
$M_{Q3b}$=4.31$\pm0.47$ $M_{\rm J}$, $M_{Q4b}$=6.10$ \pm0.54$ $M_{\rm J}$, and
$M_{Q5b}$ = 4.32$ \pm0.18$ $M_{\rm J}$, while model fits to the transit light
curves yield radii of $R_{Q3b}$ = 1.096$ \pm0.14$ $R_{\rm J}$, $R_{Q4b}$ =
1.135$ \pm0.11$ $R_{\rm J}$, and $R_{Q5b}$ = 1.107$ \pm0.064$ $R_{\rm J}$. The
host stars are low-mass main sequence stars with masses and radii $M_{Q3}$ =
1.145$ \pm0.064$ $M_{\odot}$, $M_{Q4}$ = 0.896$ \pm0.048$ $M_{\odot}$, $M_{Q5}$
= 1.128$ \pm0.056$ $M_{\odot}$ and $R_{Q3}$ = 1.272$ \pm0.14$ $R_{\odot}$,
$R_{Q4}$ = 0.849$\pm0.063$ $R_{\odot}$ and $R_{Q5}$ = 1.076$\pm0.051$
$R_{\odot}$ for Qatar-3, 4 and 5 respectively. The V magnitudes of the three
host stars are $V_{Q3}$=12.88, $V_{Q4}$=13.60, and $V_{Q5}$=12.82. All three
new planets can be classified as heavy hot Jupiters (M > 4 $M_{J}$).


title: Tropical critical points of the superpotential of a flag variety

abstract:
  In this paper we investigate the idea of a tropical critical point of the
superpotential for the full flag variety of type A. Recall that associated to
an irreducible representation of G=SLn(C) are various polytopes whose integral
points parameterize a basis for the representation, e.g. the Gelfand-Zetlin
polytope. Such polytopes can be constructed via the theory of geometric
crystals by tropicalising a certain function, and in fact, the function
involved coincides with the superpotential from the Landau-Ginzburg model for
G/B coming from mirror symmetry. In mirror symmetry a special role is played by
the critical points of the superpotential, and motivated by this, we give a
definition of the tropical critical points and use it to find a canonical point
in each polytope. We then characterize the highest weights for which this
tropical critical point is integral and therefore corresponds to a basis vector
of the corresponding representation. Finally we give an interpretation of the
tropical critical point by constructing a special vector in the representation
using Borel-Weil theory and conjecturing a correspondence between this vector
and the tropical critical point.


title:
On Supersymmetric Geometric Flows and $\mathcal{R}^2$ Inflation From
  Scale Invariant Supergravity

abstract:
  Models of geometric flows pertaining to $\mathcal{R}^2$ scale invariant
(super) gravity theories coupled to conformally invariant matter fields are
investigated. Related to this work are supersymmetric scalar manifolds that are
isomorphic to the K\"{a}hlerian spaces $\mathcal{M}_n=SU(1,1+k)/U(1)\times
SU(1+k)$ as generalizations of the non-supersymmetric analogs with
$SO(1,1+k)/SO(1+k)$ manifolds. For curved superspaces with geometric evolution
of physical objects, a complete supersymmetric theory has to be elaborated on
nonholonomic (super) manifolds and bundles determined by non-integrable
superdistributions with additional constraints on (super) field dynamics and
geometric evolution equations. We also consider generalizations of Perelman's
functionals using such nonholonomic variables which result in the decoupling of
geometric flow equations and Ricci soliton equations with supergravity
modifications of the $R^2$ gravity theory. As such, it is possible to construct
exact non-homogeneous and locally anisotropic cosmological solutions for
various types of (super) gravity theories modelled as modified Ricci soliton
configurations. Such solutions are defined by employing the general ansatz
encompassing coefficients of generic off-diagonal metrics and generalized
connections that depend generically on all spacetime coordinates. We consider
nonholonomic constraints resulting in diagonal homogeneous configurations
encoding contributions from possible nonlinear parametric geometric evolution
scenarios, off-diagonal interactions and anisotropic polarization/ modification
of physical constants. We also analyze the conditions under which such modified
mimetic type theories and solutions reproduce the Starobinsky inflationary
models in the double scalar approach.


title:
A Moran coefficient-based mixed effects approach to investigate
  spatially varying relationships

abstract:
  This study develops a spatially varying coefficient model by extending the
random effects eigenvector spatial filtering model. The developed model has the
following properties: its coefficients are interpretable in terms of the Moran
coefficient; each of its coefficients can have a different degree of spatial
smoothness; and it yields a variant of a Bayesian spatially varying coefficient
model. Also, parameter estimation of the model can be executed with a
relatively small computationally burden. Results of a Monte Carlo simulation
reveal that our model outperforms a conventional eigenvector spatial filtering
(ESF) model and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models in terms of the
accuracy of the coefficient estimates and computational time. We empirically
apply our model to the hedonic land price analysis of flood risk in Japan.


title:
Global Regularity for Supercritical Nonlinear Dissipative Wave Equations
  in 3D

abstract:
  The nonlinear wave equation $u_{tt}-\Delta u +|u_t|^{p-1}u_t=0$ is shown to
be globally well-posed in the Sobolev spaces of radially symmetric functions
$H^k_{\rm rad}({\bf R}^3)\times H^{k-1}_{\rm rad}({\bf R}^3)$ for all $p\geq 3$
and $k\geq 3$. Moreover, global $C^\infty $ solutions are obtained when the
initial data are $C_0^\infty$ and exponent $p$ is an odd integer. The radial
symmetry allows a reduction to the one-dimensional case where an important
observation of A. Haraux (2009) can be applied, i.e., dissipative nonlinear
wave equations contract initial data in $W^{k,q}({\bf R})\times W^{k-1,q}({\bf
R})$ for all $k\in[1,2]$ and $q\in [1,\infty]$.


title: Minimal but non-minimal inflation and electroweak symmetry breaking

abstract:
  We consider the most minimal scale invariant extension of the standard model
that allows for successful radiative electroweak symmetry breaking and
inflation. The framework involves an extra scalar singlet, that plays the
r\^ole of the inflaton, and is compatibile with current experimental bounds
owing to the non-minimal coupling of the latter to gravity. This inflationary
scenario predicts a very low tensor-to-scalar ratio $r \approx 10^{-3}$,
typical of Higgs-inflation models, but in contrast yields a scalar spectral
index $n_s \simeq 0.97$ which departs from the Starobinsky limit. We briefly
discuss the collider phenomenology of the framework.


title:
Structure in the Value Function of Two-Player Zero-Sum Games of
  Incomplete Information

abstract:
  Zero-sum stochastic games provide a rich model for competitive decision
making. However, under general forms of state uncertainty as considered in the
Partially Observable Stochastic Game (POSG), such decision making problems are
still not very well understood. This paper makes a contribution to the theory
of zero-sum POSGs by characterizing structure in their value function. In
particular, we introduce a new formulation of the value function for zs-POSGs
as a function of the "plan-time sufficient statistics" (roughly speaking the
information distribution in the POSG), which has the potential to enable
generalization over such information distributions. We further delineate this
generalization capability by proving a structural result on the shape of value
function: it exhibits concavity and convexity with respect to appropriately
chosen marginals of the statistic space. This result is a key pre-cursor for
developing solution methods that may be able to exploit such structure.
Finally, we show how these results allow us to reduce a zs-POSG to a
"centralized" model with shared observations, thereby transferring results for
the latter, narrower class, to games with individual (private) observations.


title: Restricting cell modules of partition algebras

abstract:
  The restriction of a (dual) Specht module to a smaller symmetric group has a
filtration by (dual) Specht modules of this smaller group. In the cellular
structure of the group algebra of the symmetric group, the cell modules are
exactly the (dual) Specht modules. The partition algebra is a cellular algebra
containing the group algebra of the symmetric group. In this article, we study
the structure of the restriction of a cell module to the group algebra of a
symmetric group (with smaller index) and find conditions for the restriction to
possess a (dual) Specht filtration.


title: Two-dimensional network of atomtronic qubits

abstract:
  Through a combination of laser beams, we engineer a two-dimensional optical
lattice of Mexican hat potentials able to host atoms in its ring-shaped wells.
When tunneling can be ignored (at high laser intensities), we show that a
well-defined qubit can be associated with the states of the atoms trapped in
each of the rings. Each of these two-level systems can be manipulated by a
suitable configuration of Raman laser beams imprinting a synthetic flux onto
each Mexican hat cell of the lattice. Overall, we believe that the system has
the potential to form a scalable architecture for atomtronic flux qubits.


title:
Finite-Size Effects on Traveling Wave Solutions to Neural Field
  Equations

abstract:
  Neural field equations are used to describe the spatiotemporal evolution of
the activity in a network of synaptically coupled populations of neurons in the
continuum limit. Their heuristic derivation involves two approximation steps.
Under the assumption that each population in the network is large, the activity
is described in terms of a population average. The discrete network is then
approximated by a continuum. In this article we make the two approximation
steps explicit. Extending a model by Bressloff and Newby, we describe the
evolution of the activity in a discrete network of finite populations by a
Markov chain. In order to determine finite-size effects - deviations from the
mean field limit due to the finite size of the populations in the network - we
analyze the fluctuations of this Markov chain and set up an approximating
system of diffusion processes. We show that a well-posed stochastic neural
field equation with a noise term accounting for finite-size effects on
traveling wave solutions is obtained as the strong continuum limit.


title: Superconducting electron and hole lenses

abstract:
  We show how a superconducting region (S) sandwiched between two normal leads
(N), in the presence of barriers, can act as a lens for propagating electron
and hole waves by virtue of the so- called crossed Andreev reflection (CAR).
The CAR process which is equivalent to the Cooper pair splitting into the two N
electrodes provides a unique possibility of constructing entangled electrons in
solid state systems. When electrons are locally injected from an N lead, due to
the CAR and normal reflection of quasiparticles by the insulating barriers at
the interfaces, sequences of electron and hole focuses are established inside
another N electrode. This behavior originates from the change of momentum
during electron-hole conversion beside the successive normal reflections of
electrons and holes due to the barriers. The focusing phenomena studied here is
fundamentally different from the electron focusing in other systems like
graphene pn junctions. In particular due to the electron-hole symmetry of
superconducting state, the focusing of electrons and holes are robust against
thermal excitations. Furthermore the effect of superconducting layer width, the
injection point position, and barriers strength is investigated on the focusing
behavior of the junction. Very intriguingly, it is shown that by varying the
barriers strength, one can separately control the density of electrons or holes
at the focuses.


title:
The "$a_1(1420)$" peak as the $\pi f_0(980)$ decay mode of the
  $a_1(1260)$

abstract:
  We study the decay mode of the $a_1(1260)$ into a $\pi^+$ in p-wave and the
$f_0(980)$ that decays into $\pi^+ \pi^-$ in s-wave. The mechanisms proceeds
via a triangular mechanism where the $a_1(1260)$ decays into $K^* \bar K$, the
$K^*$ decays to an external $\pi^+$ and an internal $K$ that fuses with the
$\bar K$ to produce the $f_0(980)$ resonance. The mechanism develops a
singularity at a mass of the $a_1(1260)$ around 1420 MeV, producing a peak in
the cross section of the $\pi p$ reaction, used to generate the mesonic final
state, which provides a natural explanation of all the features observed in the
COMPASS experiment, where a peak observed at this energy is tentatively
associated to a new resonance called $a_1(1420)$. On the other hand, the
triangular singularity studied here gives rise to a remarkable feature, where a
peak is seen for a certain decay channel of a resonance at an energy about 200
MeV higher than its nominal mass.


title:
Spatially incoherent illumination interferometry: a PSF almost
  insensitive to aberrations

abstract:
  We show that with spatially incoherent illumination, the point spread
function width of an imaging interferometer like that used in full-field
optical coherence tomography (FFOCT) is almost insensitive to aberrations that
mostly induce a reduction of the signal level without broadening. This is
demonstrated by comparison with traditional scanning OCT and wide-field OCT
with spatially coherent illuminations. Theoretical analysis, numerical
calculation as well as experimental results are provided to show this specific
merit of incoherent illumination in full-field OCT. To the best of our
knowledge, this is the first time that such result has been demonstrated.


title: Identifiability of homogeneous polynomials and Cremona Transformations

abstract:
  A homogeneous polynomial of degree $d$ in $n+1$ variables is identifiable if
it admits a unique additive decomposition in powers of linear forms.
Identifiability is expected to be very rare. In this paper we conclude a work
started more than a century ago and we describe all values of $d$ and $n$ for
which a general polynomial of degree $d$ in $n+1$ variables is identifiable.
This is done by classifying a special class of Cremona transformations of
projective spaces.


title:
Towards self-similar propagation in a dispersion tailored and highly
  nonlinear segmented bandgap fiber at 2.8 micron

abstract:
  We numerically demonstrate self-similar propagation of parabolic optical
pulses through a highly nonlinear and passive specialty photonic bandgap fiber
at 2.8 micron. In this context, we have proposed a scheme endowed with a
rapidly varying, but of nearly-mean-zero longitudinal dispersion and modulated
nonlinear profile in order to achieve self-similarity of the formed parabolic
pulse propagating over longer distances. To implement the proposed scheme, we
have designed a segmented bandgap fiber with suitably tapered counterparts to
realize such customized dispersion with chalchogenide glass materials. A
self-similar parabolic pulse with full-width-at-half-maxima of 4.12 ps and
energy of ~ 39 pJ as been achieved at the output. Along with a linear chirp
spanning over the entire pulse duration, 3dB spectral broadening of about 38 nm
at the output has been reported.


title:
An effective approach for classification of advanced malware with high
  accuracy

abstract:
  Combating malware is very important for software/systems security, but to
prevent the software/systems from the advanced malware, viz. metamorphic
malware is a challenging task, as it changes the structure/code after each
infection. Therefore in this paper, we present a novel approach to detect the
advanced malware with high accuracy by analyzing the occurrence of opcodes
(features) by grouping the executables. These groups are made on the basis of
our earlier studies [1] that the difference between the sizes of any two
malware generated by popular advanced malware kits viz. PS-MPC, G2 and NGVCK
are within 5 KB. On the basis of obtained promising features, we studied the
performance of thirteen classifiers using N-fold cross-validation available in
machine learning tool WEKA. Among these thirteen classifiers we studied
in-depth top five classifiers (Random forest, LMT, NBT, J48 and FT) and obtain
more than 96.28% accuracy for the detection of unknown malware, which is better
than the maximum detection accuracy (95.9%) reported by Santos et al (2013). In
these top five classifiers, our approach obtained a detection accuracy of
97.95% by the Random forest.


title: Nuclear Modification Factor Using Tsallis Non-extensive Statistics

abstract:
  The nuclear modification factor is derived using Tsallis non-extensive
statistics in relaxation time approximation. The variation of nuclear
modification factor with transverse momentum for different values of
non-extensive parameter, $q$, is also observed. The experimental data from RHIC
and LHC are analysed in the framework of Tsallis non-extensive statistics in a
relaxation time approximation. It is shown that the proposed approach explains
the $R_{AA}$ of all particles over a wide range of transverse momenta but
doesn't seem to describe the rise in $R_{AA}$ at very high transverse momenta.


title: Thermally induced magnetic relaxation in square artificial spin ice

abstract:
  The properties of natural and artificial assemblies of interacting elements,
ranging from Quarks to Galaxies, are at the heart of Physics. The collective
response and dynamics of such assemblies are dictated by the intrinsic
dynamical properties of the building blocks, the nature of their interactions
and topological constraints. Here we report on the relaxation dynamics of the
magnetization of artificial assemblies of mesoscopic spins. In our model
nano-magnetic system - square artificial spin ice - we are able to control the
geometrical arrangement and interaction strength between the magnetically
interacting building blocks by means of nano-lithography. Using time resolved
magnetometry we show that the relaxation process can be described using the
Kohlrausch law and that the extracted temperature dependent relaxation times of
the assemblies follow the Vogel-Fulcher law. The results provide insight into
the relaxation dynamics of mesoscopic nano-magnetic model systems, with
adjustable energy and time scales, and demonstrates that these can serve as an
ideal playground for the studies of collective dynamics and relaxations.


title: Inferring Logical Forms From Denotations

abstract:
  A core problem in learning semantic parsers from denotations is picking out
consistent logical forms--those that yield the correct denotation--from a
combinatorially large space. To control the search space, previous work relied
on restricted set of rules, which limits expressivity. In this paper, we
consider a much more expressive class of logical forms, and show how to use
dynamic programming to efficiently represent the complete set of consistent
logical forms. Expressivity also introduces many more spurious logical forms
which are consistent with the correct denotation but do not represent the
meaning of the utterance. To address this, we generate fictitious worlds and
use crowdsourced denotations on these worlds to filter out spurious logical
forms. On the WikiTableQuestions dataset, we increase the coverage of
answerable questions from 53.5% to 76%, and the additional crowdsourced
supervision lets us rule out 92.1% of spurious logical forms.


title:
Channel-resolved subcycle interferences of electron wave packets emitted
  from H$_2$ in two-color laser fields

abstract:
  We report on the observation of subcycle interferences of electron wave
packets released during the strong field ionization of H$_2$ with cycle-shaped
two-color laser fields. With a reaction microscope, channel-resolved
photoelectron momentum distribution are obtained for different final products
originating from single ionization of H$_2$. Our results show that the subcycle
interference structures of electron wave packet are very sensitive to the
cycle-shape of the two-color laser field. The reason is that the ionization
time within an optical cycle is determined by the cycle-shape of the laser
field. The subcycle interference structures can be further used to get the
subcycle dynamics of molecules during strong field interaction.


title:
Non-linear diffusion of cosmic rays escaping from supernova remnants -
  I. The effect of neutrals

abstract:
  Supernova remnants are believed to be the main sources of galactic Cosmic
Rays (CR). Within this framework, particles are accelerated at supernova
remnant shocks and then released in the interstellar medium. The mechanism
through which CRs are released and the way in which they propagate still remain
open issues. The main difficulty is the high non-linearity of the problem: CRs
themselves excite the magnetic turbulence that confines them close to their
sources. We solve numerically the coupled differential equations describing the
evolution in space and time of the escaping particles and of the waves
generated through the CR streaming instability. The warm ionized and warm
neutral phases of the interstellar medium are considered. These phases occupy
the largest fraction of the disc volume, where most supernovae explode, and are
characterised by the significant presence of neutral particles. The friction
between those neutrals and ions results in a very effective wave damping
mechanism. It is found that streaming instability affects the propagation of
CRs even in the presence of ion-neutral friction. The diffusion coefficient can
be suppressed by more than a factor of $\sim 2$ over a region of few tens of pc
around the remnant. The suppression increases for smaller distances. The
propagation of $\approx 10$ GeV particles is affected for several tens of
kiloyears after escape, while $\approx 1$ TeV particles are affected for few
kiloyears. This might have a great impact on the interpretation of gamma-ray
observations of molecular clouds located in the vicinity of supernova remnants.


title:
Complete Graphical Characterization and Construction of Adjustment Sets
  in Markov Equivalence Classes of Ancestral Graphs

abstract:
  We present a graphical criterion for covariate adjustment that is sound and
complete for four different classes of causal graphical models: directed
acyclic graphs (DAGs), maximum ancestral graphs (MAGs), completed partially
directed acyclic graphs (CPDAGs), and partial ancestral graphs (PAGs). Our
criterion unifies covariate adjustment for a large set of graph classes.
Moreover, we define an explicit set that satisfies our criterion, if there is
any set that satisfies our criterion. We also give efficient algorithms for
constructing all sets that fulfill our criterion, implemented in the R package
dagitty. Finally, we discuss the relationship between our criterion and other
criteria for adjustment, and we provide new soundness and completeness proofs
for the adjustment criterion for DAGs.


title:
CP Violation from Flavor Symmetry in a Lepton Quarticity Dark Matter
  Model

abstract:
  We propose a simple $\Delta (27) \otimes Z_4$ model where neutrinos are
predicted to be Dirac fermions. The smallness of their masses follows from a
type-I seesaw mechanism and the leptonic CP violating phase correlates with the
pattern of $\Delta (27)$ flavor symmetry breaking. The scheme naturally harbors
a WIMP dark matter candidate associated to the Dirac nature of neutrinos, in
that the same $Z_4$ lepton number symmetry also ensures dark matter stability.


title:
Learning text representation using recurrent convolutional neural
  network with highway layers

abstract:
  Recently, the rapid development of word embedding and neural networks has
brought new inspiration to various NLP and IR tasks. In this paper, we describe
a staged hybrid model combining Recurrent Convolutional Neural Networks (RCNN)
with highway layers. The highway network module is incorporated in the middle
takes the output of the bi-directional Recurrent Neural Network (Bi-RNN) module
in the first stage and provides the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) module
in the last stage with the input. The experiment shows that our model
outperforms common neural network models (CNN, RNN, Bi-RNN) on a sentiment
analysis task. Besides, the analysis of how sequence length influences the RCNN
with highway layers shows that our model could learn good representation for
the long text.


title: Limiting Fragmentation in a Thermal Model with Flow

abstract:
  The property of limiting fragmentation of various observables such as
rapidity distributions ($dN/dy$), elliptic flow ($v_{2}$), average transverse
momentum ($\langle p_{T} \rangle$) etc. of charged particles is observed when
they are plotted as a function of rapidity ($y$) shifted by the beam rapidity
($y_{beam}$) for a wide range of energies from AGS to RHIC. Limiting
fragmentation (LF) is a well studied phenomenon as observed in various
collision energies and colliding systems experimentally. It is very interesting
to verify this phenomenon theoretically. We study such a phenomenon for pion
rapidity spectra using our hydrodynamic-like model where the collective flow is
incorporated in a thermal model in the longitudinal direction. Our findings
advocate the observation of extended longitudinal scaling in the rapidity
spectra of pions from AGS to lower RHIC energies, while it is observed to be
violated at top RHIC and LHC energies. Prediction of LF hypothesis for Pb+Pb
collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=5.02 TeV is given.


title: Energy and angular distributions of atmospheric muons at the Earth

abstract:
  A fair knowledge of the atmospheric muon distributions at Earth is a
prerequisite for the simulations of cosmic ray setups and rare event search
detectors. A modified power law is proposed for atmospheric muon energy
distribution which gives a good description of the cosmic muon data in low as
well as high energy regime. Using this distribution, analytical forms for
zenith angle ($\theta$) distribution are obtained. Assuming a flat Earth, it
leads to the $\cos^{n-1}\theta$ form where it is shown that the parameter $n$
is nothing but the power of the energy distribution. Exact analytical function
is obtained for inclined trajectory of muon. A new closed form for zenith angle
distribution is obtained without assuming a flat Earth and which gives an
improved description of the data at all angles even above $70^o$. These
distributions are tested with the available atmospheric muon data of energy and
angular distributions. The parameters of these distributions can be used to
characterize the cosmic muon data as a function of energy, angle and altitude.


title: Grouping the executables to detect malware with high accuracy

abstract:
  The metamorphic malware variants with the same malicious behavior (family),
can obfuscate themselves to look different from each other. This variation in
structure leads to a huge signature database for traditional signature matching
techniques to detect them. In order to effective and efficient detection of
malware in large amounts of executables, we need to partition these files into
groups which can identify their respective families. In addition, the grouping
criteria should be chosen such a way that, it can also be applied to unknown
files encounter on computers for classification. This paper discusses the study
of malware and benign executables in groups to detect unknown malware with high
accuracy. We studied sizes of malware generated by three popular second
generation malware (metamorphic malware) creator kits viz. G2, PS-MPC and
NGVCK, and observed that the size variation in any two generated malware from
same kit is not much. Hence, we grouped the executables on the basis of malware
sizes by using Optimal k-Means Clustering algorithm and used these obtained
groups to select promising features for training (Random forest, J48, LMT, FT
and NBT) classifiers to detect variants of malware or unknown malware. We find
that detection of malware on the basis of their respected file sizes gives
accuracy up to 99.11% from the classifiers.


title:
Improving the detection accuracy of unknown malware by partitioning the
  executables in groups

abstract:
  Detection of unknown malware with high accuracy is always a challenging task.
Therefore, in this paper, we study the classification of unknown malware by two
methods. In the first/regular method, similar to other authors [17][16][20]
approaches we select the features by taking all dataset in one group and in the
second method, we select the features by partitioning the dataset in the range
of file 5 KB size. We find that the second method to detect the malware with
~8.7% more accurate than the first/regular method.


title:
Neutron-skin effect in direct-photon and charged hadron-production in
  Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC

abstract:
  A well-established observation in nuclear physics is that in neutron-rich
spherical nuclei the distribution of neutrons extends farther than the
distribution of protons. In this work, we scrutinize the influence of this so
called neutron-skin effect on the centrality dependence of high-$p_{\rm T}$
direct-photon and charged-hadron production. We find that due to the estimated
spatial dependence of the nuclear parton distribution functions, it will be
demanding to unambiguously expose the neutron-skin effect with direct photons.
However, when taking a ratio between the cross sections for negatively and
positively charged high-$p_{\rm T}$ hadrons, even centrality-dependent
nuclear-PDF effects cancel, making this observable a better handle on the
neutron skin. Up to 20~\% effects can be expected for the most peripheral
collisions.


title: On a special case of the Herbert Stahl theorem

abstract:
  The BMV conjecture states that for $n\times n$ Hermitian matrices $A$ and $B$
the function $f_{A,B}(t)=trace{\, } e^{tA+B}$ is exponentially convex. Recently
the BMV conjecture was proved by Herbert Stahl. The proof of Herbert Stahl is
based on ingenious considerations related to Riemann surfaces of algebraic
functions. In the present paper we give a purely "matrix" proof of the BMV
conjecture for the special case $rank\,A=1$. This proof is based on the Lie
product formula for the exponential of the sum of two matrices and does not
require complex analysis.


title:
Spatial Bayesian Latent Factor Regression Modeling of Coordinate-based
  Meta-analysis Data

abstract:
  Now over 20 years old, functional MRI (fMRI) has a large and growing
literature that is best synthesised with meta-analytic tools. As most authors
do not share image data, only the peak activation coordinates (foci) reported
in the paper are available for Coordinate-based Meta-analysis (CBMA).
Neuroimaging meta-analysis is used to 1) identify areas of consistent
activation; and 2) build a predictive model of task type or cognitive process
for new studies (reverse inference). To simultaneously address these aims, we
propose a Bayesian point process hierarchical model for CBMA. We model the foci
from each study as a doubly stochastic Poisson process, where the
study-specific log intensity function is characterised as a linear combination
of a high-dimensional basis set. A sparse representation of the intensities is
guaranteed through latent factor modeling of the basis coefficients. Within our
framework, it is also possible to account for the effect of study-level
covariates (meta-regression), significantly expanding the capabilities of the
current neuroimaging meta-analysis methods available. We apply our methodology
to synthetic data and a neuroimaging meta-analysis dataset.


title: Towards Strong Reverse Minkowski-type Inequalities for Lattices

abstract:
  We present a natural reverse Minkowski-type inequality for lattices, which
gives upper bounds on the number of lattice points in a Euclidean ball in terms
of sublattice determinants, and conjecture its optimal form. The conjecture
exhibits a surprising wealth of connections to various areas in mathematics and
computer science, including a conjecture motivated by integer programming by
Kannan and Lov\'asz (Annals of Math. 1988), a question from additive
combinatorics asked by Green, a question on Brownian motions asked by
Saloff-Coste (Colloq. Math. 2010), a theorem by Milman and Pisier from convex
geometry (Ann. Probab. 1987), worst-case to average-case reductions in
lattice-based cryptography, and more. We present these connections, provide
evidence for the conjecture, and discuss possible approaches towards a proof.
Our main technical contribution is in proving that our conjecture implies the
$\ell_2$ case of the Kannan and Lov\'asz conjecture. The proof relies on a
novel convex relaxation for the covering radius, and a rounding procedure for
based on "uncrossing" lattice subspaces.


title:
Analytical expression for Risken-Nummedal-Graham-Haken instability
  threshold in quantum cascade lasers

abstract:
  We have obtained a closed-form expression for the threshold of
Risken-Nummedal-Graham-Haken (RNGH) multimode instability in a Fabry-P\'erot
(FP) cavity quantum cascade laser (QCL). This simple analytical expression is a
versatile tool that can easily be applied in practical situations which require
analysis of QCL dynamic behavior and estimation of its second threshold. Our
model for a FP cavity laser accounts for the carrier coherence grating and
carrier population grating as well as their relaxation due to carrier
diffusion. In the model, the RNGH instability threshold is analyzed using a
second-order bi-orthogonal perturbation theory and we confirm our analytical
solution by a comparison with the numerical simulations. In particular, the
model predicts a low second threshold in QCLs. This agrees very well with
experimental data available in the literature.


title:
Locally linear embedding: dimension reduction of massive protostellar
  spectra

abstract:
  We present the results of the application of locally linear embedding (LLE)
to reduce the dimensionality of dereddened and continuum subtracted
near-infrared spectra using a combination of models and real spectra of massive
protostars selected from the Red MSX Source survey database. A brief comparison
is also made with two other dimension reduction techniques; Principal Component
Analysis (PCA) and Isomap using the same set of spectra as well as a more
advanced form of LLE, Hessian locally linear embedding. We find that whilst LLE
certainly has its limitations, it significantly outperforms both PCA and Isomap
in classification of spectra based on the presence/absence of emission lines
and provides a valuable tool for classification and analysis of large spectral
data sets.