title: Macroscopic Two-Dimensional Polariton Condensates

abstract:
  We report a record-size, two-dimensional polariton condensate of a fraction
of a millimeter radius free from the presence of an exciton reservoir. This
macroscopically occupied state is formed by the ballistically expanding
polariton flow that relaxes and condenses over a large area outside of the
excitation spot. The density of this trap-free condensate is < 1
polariton/{\mu}m^2, reducing the phase noise induced by the interaction energy.
Moreover, the backflow effect, recently predicted for the nonparabolic
polariton dispersion, is observed here for the first time in the fast-expanding
wave packet.


title:
Optical Stabilization of a Microwave Oscillator for Fountain Clock
  Interrogation

abstract:
  We describe an optical frequency stabilization scheme of a microwave
oscillator that is used for the interrogation of primary caesium fountain
clocks. Because of its superior phase noise properties, this scheme, which is
based on an ultrastable laser and a femtosecond laser frequency comb, overcomes
the frequency instability limitations of fountain clocks given by the
previously utilized quartz-oscillator-based frequency synthesis. The presented
scheme combines the transfer of the short-term frequency instability of an
optical cavity and the long-term frequency instability of a hydrogen maser to
the microwave oscillator and is designed to provide continuous long-term
operation for extended measurement periods of several weeks. The utilization of
the twofold stabilization scheme on the one hand ensures the referencing of the
fountain frequency to the hydrogen maser frequency and on the other hand
results in a phase noise level of the fountain interrogation signal, which
enables fountain frequency instabilities at the $2.5 \times 10^{-14} (\tau
/\mathrm{s})^{-1/2}$ level which are quantum projection noise limited.


title:
Straightness of rectilinear vs. radio-concentric networks: modeling
  simulation and comparison

abstract:
  This paper proposes a comparison between rectilinear and radio-concentric
networks. Indeed, those networks are often observed in urban areas, in several
cities all over the world. One of the interesting properties of such networks
is described by the \textit{straightness} measure from graph theory, which
assesses how much moving from one node to another along the network links
departs from the network-independent straightforward path. We study this
property in both rectilinear and radio-concentric networks, first by analyzing
mathematically routes from the center to peripheral locations in a theoretical
framework with perfect topology, then using simulations for multiple
origin-destination paths. We show that in most of the cases, radio-concentric
networks have a better straightness than rectilinear ones. How may this
property be used in the future for urban networks?


title: Polynomial-exponential decomposition from moments

abstract:
  We analyze the decomposition problem of multivariate polynomial-exponential
functions from truncated series and present new algorithms to compute their
decomposition. Using the duality between polynomials and formal power series,
we first show how the elements in the dual of an Artinian algebra correspond to
polynomial-exponential functions. They are also the solutions of systems of
partial differential equations with constant coefficients. We relate their
representation to the inverse system of the roots of the characteristic
variety. Using the properties of Hankel operators, we establish a
correspondence between polynomial exponential series and Artinian Gorenstein
algebras. We generalize Kronecker theorem to the multivariate case, by showing
that the symbol of a Hankel operator of finite rank is a polynomial-exponential
series and by connecting the rank of the Hankel operator with the decomposition
of the symbol. A generalization of Prony's approach to multivariate
decomposition problems is presented , exploiting eigenvector methods for
solving polynomial equations. We show how to compute the frequencies and
weights of a minimal polynomial-exponential decomposition , using the first
coefficients of the series. A key ingredient of the approach is the flat
extension criteria, which leads to a multivariate generalization of a rank
condition for a Carath{\'e}odory-Fej{\'e}r decomposition of multivariate Hankel
matrices. A new algorithm is given to compute a basis of the Artinian
Gorenstein algebra, based on a Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization process and to
decompose polynomial-exponential series. A general framework for the
applications of this approach is described and illustrated in different
problems. We provide Kronecker-type theorems for convolution operators, showing
that a convolution operator (or a cross-correlation operator) is of finite
rank, if and only if, its symbol is a polynomial-exponential function, and we
relate its rank to the decomposition of its symbol. We also present
Kronecker-type theorems for the reconstruction of measures as weighted sums of
Dirac measures from moments and for the decomposition of polynomial-exponential
functions from values. Finally, we describe an application of this method for
the sparse interpolation of polylog functions from values.


title:
Measurement of the WZ production cross section in pp collisions at
  sqrt{s} = 7 and 8 TeV and search for anomalous triple gauge couplings at
  sqrt{s} = 8 TeV

abstract:
  The WZ production cross section is measured by the CMS experiment at the CERN
LHC in proton-proton collision data samples corresponding to integrated
luminosities of 4.9 inverse femtobarns collected at sqrt(s)= 7 TeV, and 19.6
inverse femtobarns at sqrt(s)= 8 TeV. The measurements are performed using the
fully-leptonic WZ decay modes with electrons and muons in the final state. The
measured cross sections for 71 < m[Z] < 111 GeV are sigma(pp to WZ; sqrt(s)= 7
TeV) = 20.14 +/- 1.32 (stat) +/- 1.13 (syst) +/- 0.44 (lumi) pb and sigma(pp to
WZ; sqrt(s)= 8 TeV) = 24.09 +/- 0.87 (stat) +/- 1.62 (syst) +/- 0.63 (lumi) pb.
Differential cross sections with respect to the Z boson pt, the leading jet pt,
and the number of jets are obtained using the sqrt(s)= 8 TeV data. The results
are consistent with standard model predictions and constraints on anomalous
triple gauge couplings are obtained.


title: Poisson Noise Reduction with Higher-order Natural Image Prior Model

abstract:
  Poisson denoising is an essential issue for various imaging applications,
such as night vision, medical imaging and microscopy. State-of-the-art
approaches are clearly dominated by patch-based non-local methods in recent
years. In this paper, we aim to propose a local Poisson denoising model with
both structure simplicity and good performance. To this end, we consider a
variational modeling to integrate the so-called Fields of Experts (FoE) image
prior, that has proven an effective higher-order Markov Random Fields (MRF)
model for many classic image restoration problems. We exploit several feasible
variational variants for this task. We start with a direct modeling in the
original image domain by taking into account the Poisson noise statistics,
which performs generally well for the cases of high SNR. However, this strategy
encounters problem in cases of low SNR. Then we turn to an alternative modeling
strategy by using the Anscombe transform and Gaussian statistics derived data
term. We retrain the FoE prior model directly in the transform domain. With the
newly trained FoE model, we end up with a local variational model providing
strongly competitive results against state-of-the-art non-local approaches,
meanwhile bearing the property of simple structure. Furthermore, our proposed
model comes along with an additional advantage, that the inference is very
efficient as it is well-suited for parallel computation on GPUs. For images of
size $512 \times 512$, our GPU implementation takes less than 1 second to
produce state-of-the-art Poisson denoising performance.


title:
The transfer of resonance line polarization with partial frequency
  redistribution in the general Hanle-Zeeman regime

abstract:
  The spectral line polarization encodes a wealth of information about the
thermal and magnetic properties of the solar atmosphere. Modeling the Stokes
profiles of strong resonance lines is, however, a complex problem both from the
theoretical and computational point of view, especially when partial frequency
redistribution (PRD) effects need to be taken into account. In this work, we
consider a two-level atom in the presence of magnetic fields of arbitrary
intensity (Hanle-Zeeman regime) and orientation, both deterministic and
micro-structured. Working within the framework of a rigorous PRD theoretical
approach, we have developed a numerical code which solves the full non-LTE
radiative transfer problem for polarized radiation, in one-dimensional models
of the solar atmosphere, accounting for the combined action of the Hanle and
Zeeman effects, as well as for PRD phenomena. After briefly discussing the
relevant equations, we describe the iterative method of solution of the problem
and the numerical tools that we have developed and implemented. We finally
present some illustrative applications to two resonance lines that form at
different heights in the solar atmosphere, and provide a detailed physical
interpretation of the calculated Stokes profiles. We find that in strong
resonance lines sensitive to PRD effects the magneto-optical terms of the
Stokes-vector transfer equation produce conspicuous U/I wing signals along with
a very interesting magnetic sensitivity in the wings of the linear polarization
profiles. We also show that the weak-field approximation has to be used with
caution when PRD effects are considered.


title: Finite type modules and Bethe ansatz equations

abstract:
  We introduce and study a category $\text{Fin}$ of modules of the Borel
subalgebra of a quantum affine algebra $U_q\mathfrak{g}$, where the commutative
algebra of Drinfeld generators $h_{i,r}$, corresponding to Cartan currents, has
finitely many characteristic values. This category is a natural extension of
the category of finite-dimensional $U_q\mathfrak{g}$ modules. In particular, we
classify the irreducible objects, discuss their properties, and describe the
combinatorics of the q-characters. We study transfer matrices corresponding to
modules in $\text{Fin}$. Among them we find the Baxter $Q_i$ operators and
$T_i$ operators satisfying relations of the form $T_iQ_i=\prod_j Q_j+ \prod_k
Q_k$. We show that these operators are polynomials of the spectral parameter
after a suitable normalization. This allows us to prove the Bethe ansatz
equations for the zeroes of the eigenvalues of the $Q_i$ operators acting in an
arbitrary finite-dimensional representation of $U_q\mathfrak{g}$.


title: Characterization of spin-orbit fields in InGaAs quantum wells

abstract:
  Coherent electron spin dynamics in 10-nm-wide InGaAs/InAlAs quantum wells is
studied from 10 K to room temperature using time-resolved Kerr rotation. The
spin lifetime exceeds 1 ns at 10 K and decreases with temperature. By varying
the spatial overlap between pump and probe pulses, a diffusive velocity is
imprinted on the measured electron spins and a spin precession in the
spin-orbit field is measured. A Rashba symmetry of the SOI is determined. By
comparing the spatial precession frequency gradient with the spin decay rate,
an upper limit for the Rashba coefficients $\alpha$ of 2$\times$10$^{-12}$ eVm
is estimated.


title:
Almost Periodic Solutions and Stable Solutions for Stochastic
  Differential Equations

abstract:
  In this paper, we discuss the relationships between stability and almost
periodicity for solutions of stochastic differential equations. Our essential
idea is to get stability of solutions or systems by some inherited properties
of Lyapunov functions. Under suitable conditions besides Lyapunov functions, we
obtain the existence of almost periodic solutions in distribution.


title:
Correspondence between noisy sample space reducing process and records
  in correlated random events

abstract:
  We study survival time statistics in a noisy sample space reducing (SSR)
process. Our simulations suggest that both the mean and standard deviation
scale as $\sim N/N^{\lambda}$, where $N$ is the system size and $\lambda$ is a
tunable parameter that characterizes the process. The survival time
distribution has the form $\mathcal{P}_{N}(\tau)\sim
N^{-\theta}J(\tau/N^{\theta})$, where $J$ is a universal scaling function and
$\theta = 1-\lambda$. Analytical insight is provided by a conjecture for the
equivalence between the survival time statistics in the noisy SSR process and
the record statistics in a correlated time series modeled as drifted random
walk with Cauchy distributed jumps.


title:
Global stabilization of a Korteweg-de Vries equation with saturating
  distributed control

abstract:
  This article deals with the design of saturated controls in the context of
partial differential equations. It focuses on a Korteweg-de Vries equation,
which is a nonlinear mathematical model of waves on shallow water surfaces. Two
different types of saturated controls are considered. The well-posedness is
proven applying a Banach fixed point theorem, using some estimates of this
equation and some properties of the saturation function. The proof of the
asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system is separated in two cases: i)
when the control acts on all the domain, a Lyapunov function together with a
sector condition describing the saturating input is used to conclude on the
stability, ii) when the control is localized, we argue by contradiction. Some
numerical simulations illustrate the stability of the closed-loop nonlinear
partial differential equation. 1. Introduction. In recent decades, a great
effort has been made to take into account input saturations in control designs
(see e.g [39], [15] or more recently [17]). In most applications, actuators are
limited due to some physical constraints and the control input has to be
bounded. Neglecting the amplitude actuator limitation can be source of
undesirable and catastrophic behaviors for the closed-loop system. The standard
method to analyze the stability with such nonlinear controls follows a two
steps design. First the design is carried out without taking into account the
saturation. In a second step, a nonlinear analysis of the closed-loop system is
made when adding the saturation. In this way, we often get local stabilization
results. Tackling this particular nonlinearity in the case of finite
dimensional systems is already a difficult problem. However, nowadays, numerous
techniques are available (see e.g. [39, 41, 37]) and such systems can be
analyzed with an appropriate Lyapunov function and a sector condition of the
saturation map, as introduced in [39]. In the literature, there are few papers
studying this topic in the infinite dimensional case. Among them, we can cite
[18], [29], where a wave equation equipped with a saturated distributed
actuator is studied, and [12], where a coupled PDE/ODE system modeling a
switched power converter with a transmission line is considered. Due to some
restrictions on the system, a saturated feedback has to be designed in the
latter paper. There exist also some papers using the nonlinear semigroup theory
and focusing on abstract systems ([20],[34],[36]). Let us note that in [36],
[34] and [20], the study of a priori bounded controller is tackled using
abstract nonlinear theory. To be more specific, for bounded ([36],[34]) and
unbounded ([34]) control operators, some conditions are derived to deduce, from
the asymptotic stability of an infinite-dimensional linear system in abstract
form, the asymptotic stability when closing the loop with saturating
controller. These articles use the nonlinear semigroup theory (see e.g. [24] or
[1]). The Korteweg-de Vries equation (KdV for short)


title:
The discovery of a planetary candidate around the evolved low-mass
  Kepler giant star HD 175370

abstract:
  We report on the discovery of a planetary companion candidate with a minimum
mass Msini = 4.6 M_J orbiting the K2 III giant star HD 175370 (KIC 007940959).
This star was a target in our program to search for planets around a sample of
95 giant stars observed with Kepler. This detection was made possible using
precise stellar radial velocity measurements of HD 175370 taken over five years
and four months using the coude echelle spectrograph of the 2-m Alfred Jensch
Telescope and the fibre-fed echelle spectrograph HERMES of the 1.2-m Mercator
Telescope. Our radial velocity measurements reveal a periodic (349.5 days)
variation with a semi-amplitude K = 133 m/s, superimposed on a long-term trend.
A low-mass stellar companion with an orbital period of ~88 years in a highly
eccentric orbit and a planet in a Keplerian orbit with an eccentricity e = 0.22
are the most plausible explanation of the radial velocity variations. However,
we cannot exclude the existence of stellar envelope pulsations as a cause for
the low-amplitude radial velocity variations and only future continued
monitoring of this system may answer this uncertainty. From Kepler photometry
we find that HD 175370 is most likely a low-mass red-giant branch or
asymptotic-giant branch star.


title:
Multi-contact synapses for stable networks: a spike-timing dependent
  model of dendritic spine plasticity and turnover

abstract:
  Excitatory synaptic connections in the adult neocortex consist of multiple
synaptic contacts, almost exclusively formed on dendritic spines. Changes of
dendritic spine shape and volume, a correlate of synaptic strength, can be
tracked in vivo for weeks. Here, we present a combined model of spike-timing
dependent dendritic spine plasticity and turnover that explains the steady
state multi-contact configuration of synapses in adult neocortical networks. In
this model, many presynaptic neurons compete to make strong synaptic
connections onto postsynaptic neurons, while the synaptic contacts comprising
each connection cooperate via postsynaptic firing. We demonstrate that the
model is consistent with experimentally observed long-term dendritic spine
dynamics under steady-state and lesion induced conditions, and show that
cooperation of multiple synaptic contacts is crucial for stable, long-term
synaptic memories. In simulations of a simplified network of barrel cortex, our
plasticity rule reproduces whisker-trimming induced rewiring of
thalamo-cortical and recurrent synaptic connectivity on realistic time scales.


title: $G_2$-monopoles with singularities (examples)

abstract:
  $G_2$-monopoles are solutions to gauge theoretical equations on
$G_2$-manifolds. If the $G_2$-manifolds under consideration are compact, then
any irreducible $G_2$-monopole must have singularities. It is then important to
understand which kind of singularities $G_2$-monopoles can have. We give
examples (in the noncompact case) of non-Abelian monopoles with Dirac type
singularities, and examples of monopoles whose singularities are not of that
type. We also give an existence result for Abelian monopoles with Dirac type
singularities on compact manifolds. This should be one of the building blocks
in a gluing construction aimed at constructing non-Abelian ones.


title: An Opinion Dynamics Model with Increasing Self-Confidence

abstract:
  We propose an opinion dynamics model in which agents gradually increase their
own self-confidence while interacting with each other. The relations between
the newly proposed model and existing works of social learning, inertial
opinion dynamics, Bayesian inference, and stochastic multi-armed bandits are
demonstrated. We prove the convergence of the system with the existence of a
truth under fixed and periodically changing social networks, and obtain tight
convergence bounds related to the spectral gap of the graph Laplacian and the
maximum total degree centrality, respectively. In the case of randomly
generated social networks, an almost-sure convergence result is obtained. The
dynamics of the model with multiple truths or zero truth is also discussed.


title: Tunable Slow Dynamics in a New Class of Soft Colloids

abstract:
  By means of extensive simulations, we investigate concentrated solutions of
globular single-chain nanoparticles (SCNPs), an emergent class of synthetic
soft nano-objects. By increasing the concentration, the SCNPs show a reentrant
behaviour in their structural and dynamical correlations, as well as a soft
caging regime and weak dynamic heterogeneity. The latter is confirmed by
validation of the Stokes-Einstein relation up to concentrations far beyond the
overlap density. Therefore SCNPs arise as a new class of soft colloids,
exhibiting slow dynamics and actualizing in a real system structural and
dynamical anomalies proposed by models of ultrasoft particles. Quantitative
differences in the dynamical behaviour depend on the SCNP deformability, which
can be tuned through the degree of internal cross-linking.


title: A simple optical system for interpreting coherence theory

abstract:
  A new theoretical technique for understanding, analyzing and developing
optical systems is presented. The approach is statistical in nature, where
information about an object under investigation is discovered, by examining
deviations from a known reference statistical distribution. A Fourier optics
framework and a scalar description of the propagation of monochromatic light is
initially assumed. An object (belonging to a known class of objects) is
illuminated with a speckle field and the intensity of the resulting scattered
optical field is detected at a series of spatial locations by point square law
detectors. A new speckle field is generated (with a new diffuser) and the
object is again illuminated and the intensities are again measured and noted.
By making a large number of these statistical measurements - an ensemble
averaging process (which in general can be a temporal or a spatial averaging
process) - it is possible to determine the statistical relationship between the
intensities detected in different locations with a known statistical certainty.
It is shown how this physical property of the optical system can be used to
identify different classes of objects (discrete objects or objects that vary
continuously as a function of several physical parameters) with a specific
statistical certainty. The derived statistical relationship is a fourth order
statistical process and is related to the mutual intensity of scattered light.
A connection between the integration time of the intensity detectors and
temporal coherence and hence temporal bandwidth of a quasi-monochromatic light
source is discussed. We extend these results to multiple wavelengths and
polarizations of light. We briefly discuss how the results may be extended to
non-paraxial optical systems.


title:
Self-tolerance and autoimmunity in a minimal model of the idiotypic
  network

abstract:
  We consider self-tolerance and its failure -autoimmunity- in a minimal
mathematical model of the idiotypic network. A node in the network represents a
clone of B-lymphocytes and its antibodies of the same idiotype which is encoded
by a bitstring. The links between nodes represent possible interactions between
clones of almost complementary idiotype. A clone survives only if the number of
populated neighbored nodes is neither too small nor too large. The dynamics is
driven by the influx of lymphocytes with randomly generated idiotype from the
bone marrow. Previous work has revealed that the network evolves towards a
highly organized modular architecture, characterized by groups of nodes which
share statistical properties. The structural properties of the architecture can
be described analytically, the statistical properties determined from
simulations are confirmed by a modular mean-field theory. To model the presence
of self we permanently occupy one or several nodes. These nodes influence their
linked neighbors, the autoreactive clones, but are themselves not affected by
idiotypic interactions. The architecture is very similar to the case without
self, but organized such that the neighbors of self are only weakly occupied,
thus providing self-tolerance. This supports the perspective that self-reactive
clones, which regularly occur in healthy organisms, are controlled by
anti-idiotypic clones. We discuss how perturbations, like an infection with
foreign antigen, a change in the influx of new idiotypes, or the random removal
of idiotypes, may lead to autoreactivity and devise protocols which cause a
reconstitution of the self-tolerant state. The results could be helpful to
understand network and probabilistic aspects of autoimmune disorders.


title:
BMS type symmetries at null-infinity and near horizon of non-extermal
  black holes

abstract:
  In this paper we consider a generally covariant theory of gravity, and extend
the generalized off-shell ADT current such that it becomes conserved for field
dependent (asymptotically) Killing vector field. Then we define the extended
off-shell ADT current and the extended off-shell ADT charge. Consequently, we
define the conserved charge perturbation by integrating from the extended
off-shell ADT charge over a spacelike codimension two surface. Eventually, we
use the presented formalism to find the conserved charge perturbation of an
asymptotically flat spacetime. The conserved charge perturbation we obtain is
exactly matched with the result of the paper \cite{6'}. These charges are as
representations of the $BMS_4$ symmetry algebra. Also, we find that the near
horizon conserved charges of a non-extremal black hole with extended symmetries
are the Noether charges. For this case our result is also exactly matched with
that of the paper \cite{15}.


title: Machine-learned approximations to Density Functional Theory Hamiltonians

abstract:
  Large scale Density Functional Theory (DFT) based electronic structure
calculations are highly time consuming and scale poorly with system size. While
semi-empirical approximations to DFT result in a reduction in computational
time versus ab initio DFT, creating such approximations involves significant
manual intervention and is highly inefficient for high-throughput electronic
structure screening calculations. In this letter, we propose the use of
machine-learning for fast and accurate prediction of DFT Hamiltonians. Using
suitable representations of atomic neighborhoods and Kernel Ridge Regression,
we show that an accurate and transferable prediction of DFT Hamiltonians for a
variety of material environments can be achieved. Electronic transmission
spectra computed using predicted Hamiltonians compare accurately with their DFT
counterparts. The method is independent of the specifics of the DFT basis or
material system used and can easily be automated and scaled for predicting
Hamiltonians of any material system of interest.


title: The quasispecies distribution

abstract:
  The quasispecies model was introduced in 1971 by Manfred Eigen to discuss the
first stages of life on Earth. It provides an appealing mathematical framework
to study the evolution of populations in biology, for instance viruses. We
present briefly the model and we focus on its stationary solutions. These
formulae have a surprisingly rich combinatorial structure, involving for
instance the Eulerian and Stirling numbers, as well as the up--down
coefficients of permutations.


title: Higher order fractional Leibniz rule

abstract:
  The fractional Leibniz rule is generalized by the Coifman-Meyer estimate. It
is shown that the arbitrary redistribution of fractional derivatives for higher
order with the corresponding correction terms.


title: Detecting highly cyclic structure with complex eigenpairs

abstract:
  Many large, real-world complex networks have rich community structure that a
network scientist seeks to understand. These communities may overlap or have
intricate internal structure. Extracting communities with particular
topological structure, even when they overlap with other communities, is a
powerful capability that would provide novel avenues of focusing in on
structure of interest. In this work we consider extracting highly-cyclic
regions of directed graphs (digraphs). We demonstrate that embeddings derived
from complex-valued eigenvectors associated with stochastic propagator
eigenvalues near roots of unity are well-suited for this purpose. We prove
several fundamental theoretic results demonstrating the connection between
these eigenpairs and the presence of highly-cyclic structure and we demonstrate
the use of these vectors on a few real-world examples.


title: Wavenumber selection in coupled transport equations

abstract:
  We study mechanisms for wavenumber selection in a minimal model for
run-and-tumble dynamics. We show that nonlinearity in tumbling rates induces
the existence of a plethora of traveling- and standing-wave patterns, as well
as a subtle selection mechanism for the wavenumbers of spatio-temporally
periodic waves. We comment on possible implications for rippling patterns
observed in colonies of myxobacteria.


title:
Additional energy-information relations in thermodynamics of small
  systems

abstract:
  The Clausius inequality (CI) form of the second law of thermodynamics relates
information changes (entropy) to changes in the first moment of the energy
(heat and indirectly also work). Are there similar relations between other
moments of the energy distribution, and other information measures, or is the
Clausius inequality a one of a kind instance of the energy-information
paradigm? If there are additional relations, can they be used to make
predictions on measurable quantities? Changes in the energy distribution beyond
the first moment (average heat or work) are especially important in small
systems which are often very far from thermal equilibrium. The generalized
Clausius inequalities (GCI's), here derived, provide positive answers to the
two questions above and add another layer to the fundamental connection between
energy and information. To illustrate the utility of the new GCI's, we find
scenarios where the GCI's yield tighter constraints on performance (e.g. in
thermal machines) compared to the second law. To obtain the GCI's we use the
Bregman divergence - a mathematical tool found to be highly suitable for
energy-information studies. The quantum version of the GCI's provides a
thermodynamic meaning to various quantum coherence measures. It is intriguing
to fully map the regime of validity of the GCI's and extend the present results
to more general scenarios including continuous systems and particles exchange
with the baths.


title: Simulation of the Radiation Energy Release in Air Showers

abstract:
  A simulation study of the energy released by extensive air showers in the
form of MHz radiation is performed using the CoREAS simulation code. We develop
an efficient method to extract this radiation energy from air-shower
simulations. We determine the longitudinal profile of the radiation energy
release and compare it to the longitudinal profile of the energy deposit by the
electromagnetic component of the air shower. We find that the radiation energy
corrected for the geometric dependence of the geomagnetic emission scales
quadratically with the energy in the electromagnetic component of the air
shower with a second order dependency on the atmospheric density at the
position of the maximum of the shower development $X_\mathrm{max}$. In a
measurement where $X_\mathrm{max}$ is not accessible, this second order
dependence can be approximated using the zenith angle of the incoming direction
of the air shower with only a minor deterioration in accuracy. This method
results in an intrinsic uncertainty of 4% with respect to the electromagnetic
shower energy which is well below current experimental uncertainties.


title: A note on the Schrodinger maximal function

abstract:
  It is shown that control of the Schrodinger maximal functions
$\sup_{0<t<1}|e^{it\Delta} f|$ for $f\in H^s(\mathbb R^n)$ requires $s\geq
\frac n{2(n+1)}$


title:
The QCD deconfinement critical point for $N_\tau=8$ with $N_f=2$
  flavours of unimproved Wilson fermions

abstract:
  QCD at zero baryon density in the limit of infinite quark mass undergoes a
first order deconfinement phase transition at a critical temperature $T_c$
corresponding to the breaking of the global centre symmetry. In the presence of
dynamical quarks this symmetry is explicitly broken. Lowering the quark mass
the first order phase transition weakens and terminates in a second order Z(2)
point. Beyond this line confined and deconfined regions are analytically
connected by a crossover transition. As the continuum limit is approached (i.e.
the lattice spacing is decreased) the region of first order transitions expands
towards lower masses. We study the deconfinement critical point with standard
Wilson fermions and $N_f=2$ flavours. To this end we simulate several kappa
values on $N_\tau=8$ and various aspect ratios in order to extrapolate to the
thermodynamic limit, applying finite size scaling. We estimate if and when a
continuuum extrapolation is possible.


title: Properties of vector mesons in four pseudoscalars electroproduction

abstract:
  Vector mesons and the $W$ gauge boson share some common features, such as the
spin and a very short lifetime. The electromagnetic properties of the $W$ are
linked to its gauge nature and thus a big effort has been devoted to measure
them, while accounting for its instability. In this work, we elaborate on how
these ideas can be translated to study vector mesons. We focus in the unstable
property of such states and the restrictions from electromagnetic gauge
invariance, describing the differences and similarities. Then, we describe the
four pseudoscalars electroproduction as an analog to the $e^+e^- \to 4
fermions$ process, used to study the electromagnetic properties of the $W$
boson. We point out that the current experimental capabilities are reaching the
possibility to measure the magnetic dipole moment of light vector mesons.


title: The Kelmans-Seymour conjecture III: 3-vertices in $K_4^-$

abstract:
  Let $G$ be a 5-connected nonplanar graph and let $x_1,x_2,y_1,y_2\in V(G)$ be
distinct, such that $G[\{x_1,x_2,y_1,y_2\}]\cong K_4^-$ and $y_1y_2\notin
E(G)$. We show that one of the following holds: $G-x_1$ contains $K_4^-$, or
$G$ contains a $K_4^-$ in which $x_1$ is of degree 2, or $G$ contains a $TK_5$
in which $x_1$ is not a branch vertex, or $\{x_2,y_1,y_2\}$ may be chosen so
that for any distinct $z_0, z_1\in N(x_1)-\{x_2,y_1,y_2\}$, $G-\{x_1v:v\notin
\{z_0, z_1,x_2, y_1,y_2\}\}$ contains $TK_5$. This result will be used to prove
the Kelmans-Seymour conjecture.


title:
Imaging Analysis of the Hard X-ray Telescope ProtoEXIST2 and New
  Techniques for High Resolution Coded Aperture Telescopes

abstract:
  Wide-field (> 100 deg$^2$) hard X-ray coded-aperture telescopes with high
angular resolution (< 2') will enable a wide range of time domain astrophysics.
For instance, transient sources such as gamma-ray bursts can be precisely
localized without assistance of secondary focusing X-ray telescopes to enable
rapid followup studies. On the other hand, high angular resolution in
coded-aperture imaging introduces a new challenge in handling the systematic
uncertainty: average photon count per pixel is often too small to establish a
proper background pattern or model the systematic uncertainty in a time scale
where the model remains invariant. We introduce two new techniques to improve
detection sensitivity, which are designed for, but not limited to high
resolution coded-aperture system: a self-background modeling scheme which
utilizes continuous scan or dithering operations, and a Poisson-statistics
based probabilistic approach to evaluate the significance of source detection
without subtraction in handling the background. We illustrate these new imaging
analysis techniques in high resolution coded-aperture telescope using the data
acquired by the wide-field hard X-ray telescope ProtoEXIST2 during the
high-altitude balloon flight in Fall, 2012. We review the imaging sensitivity
of ProtoEXIST2 during the flight, and demonstrate the performance of the new
techniques using our balloon flight data in comparison with simulated ideal
Poisson background.


title:
Characterizations of Sobolev Functions that vanish on a part of the
  boundary

abstract:
  Let $\Omega$ be a bounded domain in R n with a Sobolev extension property
around the complement of a closed part D of its boundary. We prove that a
function u $\in$ W 1,p ($\Omega$) vanishes on D in the sense of an interior
trace if and only if it can be approximated within W 1,p ($\Omega$) by smooth
functions with support away from D. We also review several other equivalent
characterizations, so to draw a rather complete picture of these Sobolev
functions vanishing on a part of the boundary.


title: Infinite Server Queueing Networks with Deadline Based Routing

abstract:
  Motivated by timeouts in Internet services, we consider networks of infinite
server queues in which routing decisions are based on deadlines. Specifically,
at each node in the network, the total service time equals the minimum of
several independent service times (e.g. the minimum of the amount of time
required to complete a transaction and a deadline). Furthermore, routing
decisions depend on which of the independent service times achieves the minimum
(e.g. exceeding a deadline will require the customer to be routed so they can
re-attempt the transaction). Because current routing decisions are dependent on
past service times, much of the existing theory on product-form queueing
networks does not apply. In spite of this, we are able to show that such
networks have product-form equilibrium distributions. We verify our analytic
characterization with a simulation of a simple network. We also discuss
extensions of this work to more general settings.


title: Heavy quark dynamics in QCD matter

abstract:
  Simultaneous description of heavy quark nuclear suppression factor $R_{AA}$
and the elliptic flow $v_2$ is a top challenge for all the existing models. We
highlight how the temperature dependence of the energy loss/transport
coefficients is responsible to address a large part of such a puzzle along with
the the full solution of the Boltzmann collision integral for the momentum
evolution of heavy quark. We consider four different models to evaluate the
temperature dependence of drag coefficients of the heavy quark in the QGP. We
have also highlighted the heavy quark dynamics in the presence of an external
electromagnetic field which develops a sizable heavy quark directed flow,
$v_1(y)$, can be measurable at LHC.


title:
Dynamic transition from Mott-like to metal-like state of the vortex
  lattice in a superconducting film with a periodic array of holes

abstract:
  We show that under an a.c. magnetic field excitation the vortex lattice in a
superconductor with periodic array of holes can undergo a transition from a
Mott-like state where each vortex is localized in a hole, to a metal-like state
where the vortices get delocalized. The vortex dynamics is studied through the
magnetic shielding response which is measured using a low frequency two-coil
mutual inductance technique on a disordered superconducting NbN film having
periodic array of holes. We observe that the shielding response of the vortex
state is strongly dependent on the amplitude of the a.c. magnetic excitation.
At low amplitude the shielding response varies smoothly with excitation
amplitude, corresponding to elastic deformation of the vortex lattice. However,
above a threshold value of excitation the response shows a series of sharp
jumps, signaling the onset of the Mott to metal transition. Quantitative
analysis reveals that this is a collective phenomenon which depends on the
filling fraction of vortices in the antidot lattice.


title: Some aspects on four quarks recombination

abstract:
  We have performed a 3-D Monte Carlo simulation of a system composed of two
identical light quarks ($qq$) and two identical antiquarks ($\bar Q\bar Q$) and
determined whether it is energetically more favorable to form a tetraquark or
two mesons, as a function of the interparticle separation distance which, for a
fixed number of particles, can be identified as a particle density. In this
proceedings, we highlight the main results and elaborate on the implications in
properties like the correlation function for two-mesons and characterize the
isolated diquark correlation function. We analize the four-body potential
evolution and exhibit its linear behavior as a function of the invariant
distance. We track the dynamical flipping among configurations to determine the
recombination probability, exhibiting the importance of the tetraquark state.


title:
Measurement based quantum communication with resource states generated
  by entanglement purification

abstract:
  We investigate measurement-based quantum communication with noisy resource
states that are generated by entanglement purification. We consider the
transmission of encoded information via noisy quantum channels using a
measurement-based implementation of encoding, error correction and decoding. We
show that such an approach offers advantages over direct transmission,
gate-based error correction and measurement-based schemes with direct
generation of resource states. We analyze the noise structure of resource
states generated by entanglement purification and show that a local error
model, i.e. noise acting independently on all qubits of the resource state, is
a good approximation in general, and provides an exact description for
$GHZ$-states. The latter are resources for a measurement-based implementation
of error correction codes for bit-flip or phase flip errors. This provides a
first link between the recently found very high thresholds for fault-tolerant
measurement-based quantum information processing based on local error models
for resource states, to error thresholds for gate based computational models.


title: Topological classification of generic real meromorphic functions

abstract:
  In this article, to each generic real meromorphic function (i.e., having only
simple branch points in the appropriate sense) we associate a certain
combinatorial gadget which we call the park of a function. We show that the
park determines the topological type of the generic real meromorphic function
and that the set of all parks is in $1-1$-correspondence with the set of all
connected components in the space of generic real meromorphic functions. For
any of the above components, we introduce and calculate the corresponding
Hurwitz number. Finally as a consequence of our results we determine the
topological types of real meromorphic functions from monodromy of orbifold
coverings.


title:
Evolution of scalar fields surrounding black holes on compactified
  constant mean curvature hypersurfaces

abstract:
  Motivated by the goal for high accuracy modeling of gravitational radiation
emitted by isolated systems, recently, there has been renewed interest in the
numerical solution of the hyperboloidal initial value problem for Einstein's
field equations in which the outer boundary of the numerical grid is placed at
null infinity. In this article, we numerically implement the tetrad-based
approach presented in [J.M. Bardeen, O. Sarbach, and L.T. Buchman, Phys. Rev. D
83, 104045 (2011)] for a spherically symmetric, minimally coupled,
self-gravitating scalar field. When this field is massless, the evolution
system reduces to a regular, first-order symmetric hyperbolic system of
equations for the conformally rescaled scalar field which is coupled to a set
of singular elliptic constraints for the metric coefficients. We show how to
solve this system based on a numerical finite-difference approximation,
obtaining stable numerical evolutions for initial black hole configurations
which are surrounded by a spherical shell of scalar field, part of which
disperses to infinity and part of which is accreted by the black hole. As a
non-trivial test, we study the tail decay of the scalar field along different
curves, including one along the marginally trapped tube, one describing the
world line of a timelike observer at a finite radius outside the horizon, and
one corresponding to a generator of null infinity. Our results are in perfect
agreement with the usual power-law decay discussed in previous work. This
article also contains a detailed analysis for the asymptotic behavior and
regularity of the lapse, conformal factor, extrinsic curvature and the
Misner-Sharp mass function along constant mean curvature slices.


title: Linear spreading speeds from nonlinear resonant interaction

abstract:
  We identify a new mechanism for propagation into unstable states in spatially
extended systems, that is based on resonant interaction in the leading edge of
invasion fronts. Such resonant invasion speeds can be determined solely based
on the complex linear dispersion relation at the unstable equilibrium, but rely
on the presence of a nonlinear term that facilitates the resonant coupling. We
prove that these resonant speeds give the correct invasion speed in a simple
example, we show that fronts with speeds slower than the resonant speed are
unstable, and corroborate our speed criterion numerically in a variety of model
equations, including a nonlocal scalar neural field model.


title:
Impact of instructional approach on students' epistemologies about
  experimental physics

abstract:
  Student learning in undergraduate physics laboratory courses has garnered
increased attention within the PER community. Considerable work has been done
to develop curricular materials and pedagogical techniques designed to enhance
student learning within laboratory learning environments. Examples of these
transformation efforts include the Investigative Science Learning Environment
(ISLE), Modeling Instruction, and integrated lab/lecture environments (e.g.,
studio physics). In addition to improving students' understanding of the
physics content, lab courses often have an implicit or explicit goal of
increasing students' understanding and appreciation of the nature of
experimental physics. We examine students' responses to a laboratory-focused
epistemological assessment -- the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science
Survey for Experimental Physics (E-CLASS) -- to explore whether courses using
transformed curricula or pedagogy show more expert-like student epistemologies
relative to courses using traditional guided labs, as well as how this trend
varies based on student major or gender. Data for this study are drawn from an
existing data set of responses to the E-CLASS from multiple courses and
institutions.


title:
Interplay of Pomeranchuk instability and superconductivity in the
  two-dimensional repulsive Hubbard model

abstract:
  Interplay of Pomeranchuk instability (spontaneous symmetry breaking of the
Fermi surface) and d-wave superconductivity is studied for the repulsive
Hubbard model on the square lattice with the dynamical mean field theory
combined with the fluctuation exchange approximation (FLEX+DMFT). We show that
the four-fold symmetric Fermi surface becomes unstable against a spontaneous
distortion into two-fold near the van Hove filling, where the symmetry of
superconductivity coexisting with the Pomeranchuk distorted Fermi surface is
modified from the d-wave pairing to (d+s)-wave. By systematically shifting the
position of van Hove filling with varied second- and third-neighbor hoppings,
we find that the transition temperature $T_{\rm c}^{\rm PI}$ of Pomeranchuk
instability is more sensitively affected by the position of van Hove filling
than the superconducting $T_{\rm c}^{\rm SC}$. This implies that the filling
region for strong Pomeranchuk instability and that for strong superconducting
fluctuations can be separated, and Pomeranchuk instability can appear even if
the peak of $T_c^{\rm PI}$ is lower than the peak of $T_c^{\rm SC}$. An
interesting observation is that the Fermi surface distortion can enhance the
superconducting $T_{\rm c}^{\rm SC}$ in the overdoped regime, which is
explained with a perturbation picture for small distortions.


title: Phase separation patterns from directional quenching

abstract:
  We study the effect of directional quenching on patterns formed in simple
bistable systems such as the Allen-Cahn and the Cahn-Hilliard equation on the
plane. We model directional quenching as an externally triggered change in
system parameters, changing the system from monostable to bistable across an
interface. We are then interested in patterns forming in the bistable region,
in particular as the trigger progresses and increases the bistable region. We
find existence and non-existence results of single interfaces and striped
patterns.


title: On descriptions of products of simplices

abstract:
  We give several new criteria to judge whether a simple convex polytope in a
Euclidean space is combinatorially equivalent to a product of simplices. These
criteria are mixtures of combinatorial, geometrical and topological conditions
that are inspired by the ideas from toric topology.


title:
Optimal waveform for the entrainment of oscillators perturbed by an
  amplitude-modulated high-frequency force

abstract:
  We analyze limit cycle oscillators under perturbation constructed as a
product of two signals, namely, an envelope with a period close to natural
period of an oscillator and a high-frequency carrier signal. A theory for
obtaining an envelope waveform that achieves the maximal frequency interval of
entrained oscillators is presented. The optimization problem for fixed power
and maximal allowed amplitude is solved by employing the phase reduction method
and the Pontryagin's maximum principle. We have shown that the optimal envelope
waveform is a bang-bang-type solution. Also, we have found "inversion" symmetry
that relates two signals with different powers, but the same interval of
entrained frequencies. The theoretical results are confirmed numerically on
FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators.


title: Integrating citizen science with online learning to ask better questions

abstract:
  Online learners spend millions of hours per year testing their new skills on
assignments with known answers. This paper explores whether framing research
questions as assignments with unknown answers helps learners generate novel,
useful, and difficult-to-find knowledge while increasing their motivation by
contributing to a larger goal. Collaborating with the American Gut Project, the
world's largest crowdfunded citizen science project, we deploy Gut Instinct to
allow novices to generate hypotheses about the constitution of the human gut
microbiome. The tool enables online learners to explore learning material about
the microbiome and create their own theories around causal variances for
microbiome. Building on crowdsourcing or serious games that use people as
replaceable units, this work-in-progress lays our plans for how people (a) use
their personal knowledge (b) towards solving a larger real-world goal (c) that
can provide potential benefits to them. We hope to demonstrate that Gut
Instinct citizen scientists generate useful hypotheses, perform better on
learning tasks than traditional MOOC learners, and are better engaged with the
learning material.


title:
No muon excess in extensive air showers at 100-500 PeV primary energy:
  EAS-MSU results

abstract:
  Some discrepancies have been reported between observed and simulated muon
content of extensive air showers: the number of observed muons exceeded the
expectations in HiRes-MIA, Yakutsk and Pierre Auger Observatory data. Here, we
analyze the data of the Moscow State University Extensive Air Shower (EAS-MSU)
array on E_mu>~10 GeV muons in showers caused by ~(10^17-10^18) eV primary
particles and demonstrate that they agree with simulations (QGSJET-II-04
hadronic interaction model) once the primary composition inferred from the
surface-detector data is assumed.


title:
An entropic gradient structure for Lindblad equations and couplings of
  quantum systems to macroscopic models

abstract:
  We show that all Lindblad operators (i.e. generators of quantum semigroups)
on a finite-dimensional Hilbert space satisfying the detailed balance condition
with respect to the thermal equilibrium state can be written as a gradient
system with respect to the relative entropy.
  We discuss also thermodynamically consistent couplings to macroscopic
systems, either as damped Hamiltonian systems with constant temperature or as
GENERIC systems. In particular we discuss the coupling of a quantum dot coupled
to macroscopic charge carriers.


title: On the fundamental 3-classes of knot group representations

abstract:
  We discuss the fundamental (relative) 3-classes of knots (or hyperbolic
links), and provide diagrammatic descriptions of the push-forwards with respect
to every link-group representation. The point is an observation of a bridge
between the relative group homology and quandle homology from the viewpoints of
Inoue--Kabaya map \cite{IK}. Furthermore, we give an algorithm to algebraically
describe the fundamental 3-class of any hyperbolic knot.


title:
Minimizing Total Busy Time with Application to Energy-efficient
  Scheduling of Virtual Machines in IaaS clouds

abstract:
  Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) clouds have become more popular enabling
users to run applications under virtual machines. Energy efficiency for IaaS
clouds is still challenge. This paper investigates the energy-efficient
scheduling problems of virtual machines (VMs) onto physical machines (PMs) in
IaaS clouds along characteristics: multiple resources, fixed intervals and
non-preemption of virtual machines. The scheduling problems are NP-hard. Most
of existing works on VM placement reduce the total energy consumption by using
the minimum number of active physical machines. There, however, are cases using
the minimum number of physical machines results in longer the total busy time
of the physical machines. For the scheduling problems, minimizing the total
energy consumption of all physical machines is equivalent to minimizing total
busy time of all physical machines. In this paper, we propose an scheduling
algorithm, denoted as EMinTRE-LFT, for minimizing the total energy consumption
of physical machines in the scheduling problems. Our extensive simulations
using parallel workload models in Parallel Workload Archive show that the
proposed algorithm has the least total energy consumption compared to the
state-of-the art algorithms.


title:
Time-dependent weak rate of convergence for functions of generalized
  bounded variation

abstract:
  Let $W$ denote the Brownian motion. For any exponentially bounded Borel
function $g$ the function $u$ defined by $u(t,x)= \mathbb{E}[g(x{+}\sigma
W_{T-t})]$ is the stochastic solution of the backward heat equation with
terminal condition $g$. Let $u^n(t,x)$ denote the corresponding approximation
generated by a simple symmetric random walk with time steps $2T/n$ and space
steps $\pm \sigma \sqrt{T/n}$ where $\sigma > 0$. For quite irregular terminal
conditions $g$ (bounded variation on compact intervals, locally H\"older
continuous) the rate of convergence of $u^n(t,x)$ to $u(t,x)$ is considered,
and also the behavior of the error $u^n(t,x)-u(t,x)$ as $t$ tends to $T$


title:
Valley filtering by a line-defect in graphene: quantum interference and
  inversion of the filter effect

abstract:
  Valley filters are crucial to any device exploiting the valley degree of
freedom. By using an atomistic model, we analyze the mechanism leading to the
valley filtering produced by a line-defect in graphene and show how it can be
inverted by external means. Thanks to a mode decomposition applied to a
tight-binding model we can resolve the different transport channels in k-space
while keeping a simple but accurate description of the band structure, both
close and further away from the Dirac point. This allows the understanding of a
destructive interference effect (Fano resonance or antiresonance) on the p-side
of the Dirac point leading to a reduced conductance. We show that in the
neighborhood of this feature the valley filtering can be reversed by changing
the occupations with a gate voltage, the mechanism is explained in terms of a
valley-dependent Fano resonance splitting. Our results open the door for an
enhanced control of valley transport in graphene-based devices.


title: Deconstructing zero: resurgence, supersymmetry and complex saddles

abstract:
  We explain how a vanishing, or truncated, perturbative expansion, such as
often arises in semi-classically tractable supersymmetric theories, can
nevertheless be related to fluctuations about non-perturbative sectors via
resurgence. We also demonstrate that, in the same class of theories, the
vanishing of the ground state energy (unbroken supersymmetry) can be attributed
to the cancellation between a real saddle and a complex saddle (with hidden
topological angle pi), and positivity of the ground state energy (broken
supersymmetry) can be interpreted as the dominance of complex saddles. In
either case, despite the fact that the ground state energy is zero to all
orders in perturbation theory, all orders of fluctuations around
non-perturbative saddles are encoded in the perturbative E(N, g). We illustrate
these ideas with examples from supersymmetric quantum mechanics and quantum
field theory.


title: A Portable Diagnostic Device for Cardiac Magnetic Field Mapping

abstract:
  In this paper we present a portable magnetocardiography device. The focus of
this development was delivering a rapid assessment of chest pain in an
emergency department. The aim was therefore to produce an inexpensive device
that could be rapidly deployed in a noisy unshielded ward environment. We found
that induction coil magnetometers with a coil design optimized for magnetic
field mapping possess sufficient sensitivity ($104fT/\sqrt{Hz}$ noise floor at
10Hz) and response ($813fT/\mu V$ at 10Hz) for cycle averaged
magnetocardiography and are able to measure depolarisation signals in an
unshielded environment. We were unable to observe repolarisation signals to a
reasonable fidelity. We present the design of the induction coil sensor array
and signal processing routine along with data demonstrating performance in a
hospital environment.


title: Stochastic Matrix Factorization

abstract:
  This paper considers a restriction to non-negative matrix factorization in
which at least one matrix factor is stochastic. That is, the elements of the
matrix factors are non-negative and the columns of one matrix factor sum to 1.
This restriction includes topic models, a popular method for analyzing
unstructured data. It also includes a method for storing and finding pictures.
The paper presents necessary and sufficient conditions on the observed data
such that the factorization is unique. In addition, the paper characterizes
natural bounds on the parameters for any observed data and presents a
consistent least squares estimator. The results are illustrated using a topic
model analysis of PhD abstracts in economics and the problem of storing and
retrieving a set of pictures of faces.


title: Wigner, Husimi and GTMD distributions in the Color Glass Condensate

abstract:
  We study the phase space distributions of gluons inside a nucleon/nucleus in
the small-$x$ regime including the gluon saturation effect. This can be done by
using the relation between the gluon Wigner distribution and the dipole
S-matrix at small-$x$, the latter satisfies the Balitsky-Kovchegov (BK)
equation. By efficiently solving the BK equation with impact parameter
dependence, we compute the Wigner, Husimi and generalized TMD (GTMD)
distributions in the saturation regime. We also investigate the elliptic
angular dependence of these distributions which has been recently shown to be
measurable in DIS experiments.


title:
A globally-applicable disease ontology for biosurveillance; Anthology of
  Biosurveillance Diseases (ABD)

abstract:
  Biosurveillance, a relatively young field, has recently increased in
importance because of its relevance to national security and global health.
Databases and tools describing particular subsets of disease are becoming
increasingly common in the field. However, a common method to describe those
diseases is lacking. Here, we present the Anthology of Biosurveillance Diseases
(ABD), an ontology of infectious diseases of biosurveillance relevance.


title: Asymptotic Black Holes

abstract:
  Following earlier works on the KMY model of black-hole formation and
evaporation, we construct the metric for a matter sphere in gravitational
collapse, with the back-reaction of pre-Hawking radiation taken into
consideration. The mass distribution and collapsing velocity of the matter
sphere are allowed to have an arbitrary radial dependence. We find that a
generic gravitational collapse asymptote to a universal configuration which
resembles a black hole but without horizon. This approach clarifies several
misunderstandings about black-hole formation and evaporation, and provides a
new model for black-hole-like objects in the universe.


title:
Nombre de r\'esidus quadratiques d'un nombre entier inf\'erieurs \`a sa
  moiti\'e

abstract:
  We propose a criterion that allows one to distinguish prime numbers from
compound ones. This criterion is based on the counting of small quadratic
residues.


title:
Polarization-tailored Fano interference in plasmonic crystals: A Mueller
  matrix model of anisotropic Fano resonance

abstract:
  We present a simple yet elegant Mueller matrix approach for controlling the
Fano interference effect and engineering the resulting asymmetric spectral line
shape in anisotropic optical system. The approach is founded on a generalized
model of anisotropic Fano resonance, which relates the spectral asymmetry to
two physically meaningful and experimentally accessible parameters of
interference, namely, the Fano phase shift and the relative amplitudes of the
interfering modes. The differences in these parameters between orthogonal
linear polarizations in an anisotropic system are exploited to desirably tune
the Fano spectral asymmetry using pre- and post-selection of optimized
polarization states. Experimental control on the Fano phase and the relative
amplitude parameters and resulting tuning of spectral asymmetry is demonstrated
in waveguided plasmonic crystals using Mueller matrix-based polarization
analysis. The approach enabled tailoring of several exotic regimes of Fano
resonance including the complete reversal of the spectral asymmetry. The
demonstrated control and the ensuing large tunability of Fano resonance in
anisotropic systems shows potential for Fano resonance-based applications
involving control and manipulation of electromagnetic waves at the nano scale.


title: On Chudnovsky-Ramanujan Type Formulae

abstract:
  In a well-known 1914 paper, Ramanujan gave a number of rapidly converging
series for $1/\pi$ which are derived using modular functions of higher level.
D. V. and G. V. Chudnovsky in their 1988 paper derived an analogous series
representing $1/\pi$ using the modular function $J$ of level 1, which results
in highly convergent series for $1/\pi$, often used in practice. In this paper,
we explain the Chudnovsky method in the context of elliptic curves, modular
curves, and the Picard-Fuchs differential equation. In doing so, we also
generalize their method to produce formulae which are valid around any singular
point of the Picard-Fuchs differential equation. Applying the method to the
family of elliptic curves parameterized by the absolute Klein invariant $J$ of
level 1, we determine all Chudnovsky-Ramanujan type formulae which are valid
around one of the three singular points: $0, 1, \infty$.


title:
Extremal storage functions and minimal realizations of discrete-time
  linear switching systems

abstract:
  We study the $\mathcal{L}_p$ induced gain of discrete-time linear switching
systems with graph-constrained switching sequences. We first prove that, for
stable systems in a minimal realization, for every $p \geq 1$, the
$\mathcal{L}_p$-gain is exactly characterized through switching storage
functions. These functions are shown to be the $p$th power of a norm. In order
to consider general systems, we provide an algorithm for computing minimal
realizations. These realizations are \emph{rectangular systems}, with a state
dimension that varies according to the mode of the system. We apply our tools
to the study on the of $\mathcal{L}_2$-gain. We provide algorithms for its
approximation, and provide a converse result for the existence of quadratic
switching storage functions. We finally illustrate the results with a
physically motivated example.


title: Universality of single qudit gates

abstract:
  We consider the problem of deciding if a set of quantum one-qudit gates
$\mathcal{S}=\{g_1,\ldots,g_n\}\subset G$ is universal, i.e if the closure
$\overline{<\mathcal{S}>}$ is equal to $G$, where $G$ is either the special
unitary or the special orthogonal group. To every gate $g$ in $\mathcal{S}$ we
asign its image under the adjoint representation $\mathrm{Ad}_g$, where
$\mathrm{Ad}:G\rightarrow SO(\mathfrak{g})$ and $\mathfrak{g}$ is the Lie
algebra of $G$. The necessary condition for the universality of $\mathcal{S}$
is that the only matrices that commute with all $\mathrm{Ad}_{g_i}$'s are
proportional to the identity. If in addition there is an element in
$<\mathcal{S}>$ whose Hilbert-Schmidt distance from the centre of $G$ belongs
to $]0,\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}]$, then $\mathcal{S}$ is universal. Using these we
provide a simple algorithm that allows deciding the universality of any set of
$d$-dimensional gates in a finite number of steps and formulate the general
classification theorem.


title:
Quasi exactly solvable extension of Calogero model associated with
  exceptional orthogonal polynomials

abstract:
  By using the technique of supersymmetric quantum mechanics, we study a quasi
exactly solvable extension of the N-particle rational Calogero model with
harmonic confining interaction. Such quasi exactly solvable many particle
system, whose effective potential in the radial direction yields a
supersymmetric partner of the radial harmonic oscillator, is constructed by
including new long-range interactions to the rational Calogero model. An
infinite number of bound state energy levels are obtained for this system under
certain conditions. We also calculate the corresponding bound state wave
functions in terms of the recently discovered exceptional orthogonal Laguerre
polynomials.

categories: math-ph cond-mat.str-el hep-th math.MP nlin.SI quant-ph


title: Toward a Science of Autonomy for Physical Systems: Defense

abstract:
  Militaries around the world have long been cognizant of the potential
benefits associated with autonomous systems both in the conduct of warfare and
in its prevention. This has lead to the declaration by some that this
technology will lead to a fundamental change in the ways in which war is
conducted, i.e., a revolution in military affairs (RMA) not unlike gunpowder,
the long bow, the rifled bullet, the aircraft carrier, etc. Indeed the United
States has created roadmaps for robotics with ever-increasing autonomous
capability that span almost 40 years. These systems span air, sea, sea surface,
littoral, ground and subterranean environments. There are serious societal and
ethical concerns associated with the deployment of this technology that remain
unaddressed. How can sufficient protection be afforded noncombatants? What
about civilian blowback, where this technology may end up being used in
policing operations against domestic groups? How can we protect the fundamental
human rights of all involved? Considerable discussion is being conducted at an
international level, including at the United Nations Convention on Certain
Conventional Weapons (CCW) over the past two years, debating if and how such
systems, particularly lethal platforms should be banned or regulated.


title: Toward a Science of Autonomy for Physical Systems: Aerial Earth Science

abstract:
  Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with LiDAR, electro-optical and
infrared cameras, SAR and atmospheric sensors have transformed the way we
acquire high spatio-temporal resolution data. For example, UAVs equipped with
these sensors have been able to obtain topography at resolutions of less than
one meter, revolutionizing earth sciences. Surface processes act at spatial
scales on the order of a meter to produce intricate landforms and UAVs equipped
with these sensors are able to measure the three dimensional spatio-temporal
geometry of the earths surface and overlying anthropogenic features and
vegetation at resolutions appropriate to document these processes. In addition,
surface changes due to erosion, transport and sedimentation, as well as
earthquakes, landslides, volcanoes can be quantified with this data.


title: Affine embeddings of Cantor sets and dimension of $\alpha\beta$-sets

abstract:
  Let $E, F\subset {\Bbb R}^d$ be two self-similar sets, and suppose that $F$
can be affinely embedded into $E$. Under the assumption that $E$ is dust-like
and has a small Hausdorff dimension, we prove the logarithmic commensurability
between the contraction ratios of $E$ and $F$. This gives a partial affirmative
answer to Conjecture 1.2 in \cite{FHR14}. The proof is based on our study of
the box-counting dimension of a class of multi-rotation invariant sets on the
unit circle, including the $\alpha\beta$-sets initially studied by Engelking
and Katznelson.


title:
Supergranulation and multiscale flows in the solar photosphere: Global
  observations vs. a theory of anisotropic turbulent convection

abstract:
  The Sun provides us with the only spatially well-resolved astrophysical
example of turbulent thermal convection. While various aspects of solar
photospheric turbulence, such as granulation (one-Megameter horizontal scale),
are well understood, the questions of the physical origin and dynamical
organization of larger-scale flows, such as the 30-Megameters supergranulation
and flows deep in the solar convection zone, remain largely open in spite of
their importance for solar dynamics and magnetism. Here, we present a new
critical global observational characterization of multiscale photospheric flows
and subsequently formulate an anisotropic extension of the Bolgiano-Obukhov
theory of hydrodynamic stratified turbulence that may explain several of their
distinctive dynamical properties. Our combined analysis suggests that
photospheric flows in the horizontal range of scales between supergranulation
and granulation have a typical vertical correlation scale of 2.5 to 4
Megameters and operate in a strongly anisotropic, self-similar, nonlinear,
buoyant dynamical regime. While the theory remains speculative at this stage,
it lends itself to quantitative comparisons with future high-resolution
acoustic tomography of subsurface layers and advanced numerical models. Such a
validation exercise may also lead to new insights into the asymptotic dynamical
regimes in which other, unresolved turbulent anisotropic astrophysical fluid
systems supporting waves or instabilities operate.


title:
On the spectral properties of the Schrodinger operator with a periodic
  PT-symmetric potential

abstract:
  In this paper we investigate the spectrum and spectrality of the
one-dimensional Schrodinger operator with a periodic PT-symmetric
complex-valued potential.


title: Context-aware Sequential Recommendation

abstract:
  Since sequential information plays an important role in modeling user
behaviors, various sequential recommendation methods have been proposed.
Methods based on Markov assumption are widely-used, but independently combine
several most recent components. Recently, Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN) based
methods have been successfully applied in several sequential modeling tasks.
However, for real-world applications, these methods have difficulty in modeling
the contextual information, which has been proved to be very important for
behavior modeling. In this paper, we propose a novel model, named Context-Aware
Recurrent Neural Networks (CA-RNN). Instead of using the constant input matrix
and transition matrix in conventional RNN models, CA-RNN employs adaptive
context-specific input matrices and adaptive context-specific transition
matrices. The adaptive context-specific input matrices capture external
situations where user behaviors happen, such as time, location, weather and so
on. And the adaptive context-specific transition matrices capture how lengths
of time intervals between adjacent behaviors in historical sequences affect the
transition of global sequential features. Experimental results show that the
proposed CA-RNN model yields significant improvements over state-of-the-art
sequential recommendation methods and context-aware recommendation methods on
two public datasets, i.e., the Taobao dataset and the Movielens-1M dataset.


title: Cycles and Clustering in Multiplex Networks

abstract:
  In multiplex networks, cycles cannot be characterized only by their length,
as edges may occur in different layers in different combinations. We define a
classification of cycles by the number of edges in each layer and the number of
switches between layers. We calculate the expected number of cycles of each
type in the configuration model of a large sparse multiplex network. Our method
accounts for the full degree distribution including correlations between
degrees in different layers. In particular, we obtain the numbers of cycles of
length 3 of all possible types. Using these, we give a complete set of
clustering coefficients and their expected values. We show that correlations
between the degrees of a vertex in different layers strongly affect the number
of cycles of a given type, and the number of switches between layers. Both
increase with assortative correlations and are strongly decreased by
disassortative correlations. The effect of correlations on clustering
coefficients is equally pronounced.


title: Vortex coronagraphy from self-engineered liquid crystal spin-orbit masks

abstract:
  We report on a soft route towards optical vortex coronagraphy based on
self-engineered electrically tunable vortex masks based on liquid crystal
topological defects. These results suggest that a nature-assisted technological
approach to the fabrication of complex phase masks could be useful in optical
imaging whenever optical phase singularities are at play.


title:
Longitudinal and transverse structure functions in high Reynolds-number
  magneto-hydrodynamic turbulence

abstract:
  We investigate the scaling behavior of longitudinal and transverse structure
functions in homogeneous and isotropic magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence by
means of an exact hierarchy of structure function equations as well as by
direct numerical simulations of two- and three-dimensional MHD turbulence. In
particular, rescaling relations between longitudinal and transverse structure
functions are derived and utilized in order to compare different scaling
behavior in the inertial range. It is found that there are no substantial
differences between longitudinal and transverse structure functions in MHD
turbulence. This finding stands in contrast to the case of hydrodynamic
turbulence which shows persistent differences even at high Reynolds numbers. We
propose a physical picture that is based on an effective reduction of pressure
contributions due to local regions of same magnitude and alignment of velocity
and magnetic field fluctuations. Finally, our findings underline the importance
of the pressure term for the actually observed scaling differences in
hydrodynamic turbulence.


title:
Quantitative recurrence of some dynamical systems with an infinite
  measure in dimension one

abstract:
  We are interested in the asymptotic behaviour of the first return time of the
orbits of a dynamical system into a small neighbourhood of their starting
points. We study this quantity in the context of dynamical systems preserving
an infinite measure. More precisely, we consider the case of
$\mathbb{Z}$-extensions of subshifts of finite type. We also consider a toy
probabilistic model to enlight the strategy of our proofs.


title: A Variation on Chip-Firing: the diffusion game

abstract:
  We introduce a natural variant of the parallel chip-firing game, called the
diffusion game. Chips are initially assigned to vertices of a graph. At every
step, all vertices simultaneously send one chip to each neighbour with fewer
chips. As the dynamics of the parallel chip-firing game occur on a finite set
the process is inherently periodic. However the diffusion game is not obviously
periodic: even if $2|E(G)|$ chips are assigned to vertices of graph G, there
may exist time steps where some vertices have a negative number of chips. We
investigate the process, prove periodicity for a number of graph classes, and
pose some questions for future research.


title: Superflare G and K Stars and the Lithium abundance

abstract:
  We analyzed here the connection of superflares and the lithium abundance in G
and K stars based on Li abundance determinations conducted with the echelle
spectra of a full set of 280 stars obtained with the ELODIE spectrograph. For
high-active stars we show a definite correlation between $\log A(Li)$ and the
chromosphere activity. We show that sets of stars with high Li abundance and
having superflares possess common properties. It relates, firstly, to stars
with activity saturation. We consider the X-ray data for G, K, and M stars
separately, and show that transition from a saturation mode to solar-type
activity takes place at values of rotation periods 1.1, 3.3, and 7.2 days for
G2, K4 and M3 spectral types, respectively. We discuss bimodal distribution of
a number of G and K main-sequence stars versus an axial rotation and location
of superflare stars with respect to other Kepler stars. We conclude that
superflare G and K stars are mainly fast rotating young objects, but some of
them belong to stars with solar-type activity. At the same time, we found a
group of G stars with high Li content $(\log A(Li) = 1.5 - 3)$, but being
slower rotators with rotation periods > 10 days, which are characterized by low
chromospheric activity. This agrees with a large spread in Li abundances in
superflare stars. A mechanism leading to this effect is discussed.


title:
Notes on multiplier Hopf algebras and invariants of framed links and
  3-manifolds

abstract:
  In this paper, we show that Hennings construction of invariants of framed
links and 3-manifolds obtained from Hopf algebras can also be carried out for
some algebraic quantum groups.


title: Local Scale-Invariance of the 2+1 dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang model

abstract:
  Local Scale-Invariance theory is tested by extensive dynamical simulations of
the driven dimer lattice gas model, describing the surface growth of the 2+1
dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang surfaces. Very precise measurements of the
universal autoresponse function enabled us to perform nonlinear fitting with
the scaling forms, suggested by local scale-invariance (LSI). While the simple
LSI ansatz does not seem to work, forms based on logarithmic extension of LSI
provide satisfactory description of the full (measured) time evolution of the
autoresponse function.


title:
Enabling Dark Energy Science with Deep Generative Models of Galaxy
  Images

abstract:
  Understanding the nature of dark energy, the mysterious force driving the
accelerated expansion of the Universe, is a major challenge of modern
cosmology. The next generation of cosmological surveys, specifically designed
to address this issue, rely on accurate measurements of the apparent shapes of
distant galaxies. However, shape measurement methods suffer from various
unavoidable biases and therefore will rely on a precise calibration to meet the
accuracy requirements of the science analysis. This calibration process remains
an open challenge as it requires large sets of high quality galaxy images. To
this end, we study the application of deep conditional generative models in
generating realistic galaxy images. In particular we consider variations on
conditional variational autoencoder and introduce a new adversarial objective
for training of conditional generative networks. Our results suggest a reliable
alternative to the acquisition of expensive high quality observations for
generating the calibration data needed by the next generation of cosmological
surveys.


title:
Random Forests versus Neural Networks - What's Best for Camera
  Localization?

abstract:
  This work addresses the task of camera localization in a known 3D scene given
a single input RGB image. State-of-the-art approaches accomplish this in two
steps: firstly, regressing for every pixel in the image its 3D scene coordinate
and subsequently, using these coordinates to estimate the final 6D camera pose
via RANSAC. To solve the first step, Random Forests (RFs) are typically used.
On the other hand, Neural Networks (NNs) reign in many dense regression tasks,
but are not test-time efficient. We ask the question: which of the two is best
for camera localization? To address this, we make two method contributions: (1)
a test-time efficient NN architecture which we term a ForestNet that is derived
and initialized from a RF, and (2) a new fully-differentiable robust averaging
technique for regression ensembles which can be trained end-to-end with a NN.
Our experimental findings show that for scene coordinate regression,
traditional NN architectures are superior to test-time efficient RFs and
ForestNets, however, this does not translate to final 6D camera pose accuracy
where RFs and ForestNets perform slightly better. To summarize, our best
method, a ForestNet with a robust average, which has an equivalent fast and
lightweight RF, improves over the state-of-the-art for camera localization on
the 7-Scenes dataset. While this work focuses on scene coordinate regression
for camera localization, our innovations may also be applied to other
continuous regression tasks.


title:
Protoplanetary and Transitional Disks in the Open Stellar Cluster IC
  2395

abstract:
  We present new deep UBVRI images and high-resolution multi-object optical
spectroscopy of the young (~ 6 - 10 Myr old), relatively nearby (800 pc) open
cluster IC 2395. We identify nearly 300 cluster members and use the photometry
to estimate their spectral types, which extend from early B to middle M. We
also present an infrared imaging survey of the central region using the IRAC
and MIPS instruments on board the Spitzer Space Telescope, covering the
wavelength range from 3.6 to 24 microns. Our infrared observations allow us to
detect dust in circumstellar disks originating over a typical range of radii ~
0.1 to ~ 10AU from the central star. We identify 18 Class II, 8 transitional
disk, and 23 debris disk candidates, respectively 6.5%, 2.9%, and 8.3% of the
cluster members with appropriate data. We apply the same criteria for
transitional disk identification to 19 other stellar clusters and associations
spanning ages from ~ 1 to ~ 18 Myr. We find that the number of disks in the
transitional phase as a fraction of the total with strong 24 micron excesses
([8] - [24] > 1.5) increases from 8.4 +\- 1.3% at ~ 3 Myr to 46 +\- 5% at ~ 10
Myr. Alternative definitions of transitional disks will yield different
percentages but should show the same trend.


title: Constrained LQR Using Online Decomposition Techniques

abstract:
  This paper presents an algorithm to solve the infinite horizon constrained
linear quadratic regulator (CLQR) problem using operator splitting methods.
First, the CLQR problem is reformulated as a (finite-time) model predictive
control (MPC) problem without terminal constraints. Second, the MPC problem is
decomposed into smaller subproblems of fixed dimension independent of the
horizon length. Third, using the fast alternating minimization algorithm to
solve the subproblems, the horizon length is estimated online, by adding or
removing subproblems based on a periodic check on the state of the last
subproblem to determine whether it belongs to a given control invariant set. We
show that the estimated horizon length is bounded and that the control sequence
computed using the proposed algorithm is an optimal solution of the CLQR
problem. Compared to state-of-the-art algorithms proposed to solve the CLQR
problem, our design solves at each iteration only unconstrained least-squares
problems and simple gradient calculations. Furthermore, our technique allows
the horizon length to decrease online (a useful feature if the initial guess on
the horizon is too conservative). Numerical results on a planar system show the
potential of our algorithm.


title: A Distributed Observer for a Time-Invariant Linear System

abstract:
  A time-invariant, linear, distributed observer is described for estimating
the state of an $m>0$ channel, $n$-dimensional continuous-time linear system of
the form $ \dot{x} = Ax,\ y_i = C_i x,\ i \in \{1,2,\cdots, m\}$. The state $x$
is simultaneously estimated by $m$ agents assuming each agent $i$ senses $y_i$
and receives the state $z_j$ of each of its neighbors' estimators. Neighbor
relations are characterized by a constant directed graph $\mathbb{N}$ whose
vertices correspond to agents and whose arcs depict neighbor relations. The
overall distributed observer consists of $m$ linear estimators, one for each
agent; $m-1$ of the estimators are of dimension $n$ and one estimator is of
dimension $n+m-1$. Using results from classical decentralized control theory,
it is shown that subject to the assumptions that (i) none of the $C_i$ are
zero, (ii) the neighbor graph $\mathbb{N}$ is strongly connected, (iii) the
system whose state is to be estimated is jointly observable, and nothing more,
it is possible to freely assign the spectrum of the overall distributed
observer.


title: Asynchronous Splitting Design for Model Predictive Control

abstract:
  This paper focuses on the design of an asynchronous dual solver suitable for
embedded model predictive control (MPC) applications. The proposed solver
relies on a state-of-the-art variance reduction (VR) scheme, previously used in
the context of stochastic proximal gradient methods, and on the alternating
minimization algorithm (AMA). The resultant algorithm, a stochastic AMA with
VR, shows geometric convergence (in the expectation) to a suboptimal solution
of the MPC problem and, compared to other state-of-the-art dual asynchronous
algorithms, allows to tune the probability of the asynchronous updates to
improve the quality of the estimates. We apply the proposed algorithm to a
specific class of splitting methods, i.e., the decomposition along the length
of the prediction horizon, and provide preliminary numerical results on a
practical application, the longitudinal control of an Airbus passenger
aircraft.


title: Manifolds with the fixed point property and their squares

abstract:
  The Cartesian squares (powers) of manifolds with the fixed point property
(f.p.p.) are considered. Examples of manifolds with the f.p.p. are constructed
whose symmetric squares fail to have the f.p.p..


title:
Functional delta-method for the bootstrap of uniformly quasi-Hadamard
  differentiable functionals

abstract:
  The functional delta-method provides a convenient tool for deriving bootstrap
consistency of a sequence of plug-in estimators w.r.t. a given functional from
bootstrap consistency of the underlying sequence of estimators. It has recently
been shown in Beutner and Z\"ahle (2016) that the range of applications of the
functional delta-method for establishing bootstrap consistency in probability
of the sequence of plug-in estimators can be considerably enlarged by replacing
the usual condition of Hadamard differentiability of the given functional by
the weaker condition of quasi-Hadamard differentiability. Here we introduce the
notion of uniform quasi-Hadamard differentiability and show that this notion
extends the set of functionals for which almost sure bootstrap consistency of
the corresponding sequence of plug-in estimators can be obtained by the
functional delta-method. We illustrate the benefit of our results by means of
the Average Value at Risk functional as well as the composition of the Average
Value at Risk functional and the compound convolution functional. For the
latter we use a chain rule to be proved here. In our examples we consider the
weighted exchangeable bootstrap for independent observations and the blockwise
bootstrap for $\beta$-mixing observations.


title:
Controlling the toroidal excitations in metamaterials for high-Q
  response

abstract:
  The excitation of toroidal multipoles in metamaterials was investigated for
high-Q response at a subwavelength scale. In this study, we explored the
optimization of toroidal excitations in a planar metamaterial comprised of
asymmetric split ring resonators (ASRRs). It was found that the scattering
power of toroidal dipole can be remarkably strengthened by adjusting the
characteristic parameter of ASRRs: asymmetric factor. Interestingly, the
improvement in toroidal excitation accompanies increment on the Q-factor of the
toroidal metamaterial; it is shown that both the scattering power of toroidal
dipole and the Q-factor were increased more than one order by changing the
asymmetric factor of ASRRs. The optimization in excitation of toroidal
multipole provide opportunity to further increase the Q-factor of metamaterial
and boost light-matter interactions at the subwavelength scale for potential
applications in low-power nonlinear processing, and sensitive photonic
applications.


title: A New Two Sample Type-II Progressive Censoring Scheme

abstract:
  Progressive censoring scheme has received considerable attention in recent
years. In this paper we introduce a new type-II progressive censoring scheme
for two samples. It is observed that the proposed censoring scheme is
analytically more tractable than the existing joint progressive type-II
censoring scheme proposed by Rasouli and Balakrishnan \cite{RB:2010}. It has
some other advantages also. We study the statistical inference of the unknown
parameters based on the assumptions that the lifetime distribution of the
experimental units for the two samples follow exponential distribution with
different scale parameters. The maximum likelihood estimators of the unknown
parameters are obtained and their exact distributions are derived. Based on the
exact distributions of the maximum likelihood estimators exact confidence
intervals are also constructed. For comparison purposes we have used bootstrap
confidence intervals also. It is observed that the bootstrap confidence
intervals work very well and they are very easy to implement in practice. Some
simulation experiments are performed to compare the performances of the
proposed method with the existing one, and the performances of the proposed
method are quite satisfactory. One data analysis has been performed for
illustrative purposes. Finally we propose some open problems.


title: An Alexandrov-Fenchel-type inequality for hypersurfaces in the sphere

abstract:
  We find a monotone quantity along the inverse mean curvature flow and use it
to prove an Alexandrov-Fenchel-type inequality for strictly convex
hypersurfaces in the $n$-dimensional sphere, $n \geq 3$.


title: Inherent Trade-Offs in the Fair Determination of Risk Scores

abstract:
  Recent discussion in the public sphere about algorithmic classification has
involved tension between competing notions of what it means for a probabilistic
classification to be fair to different groups. We formalize three fairness
conditions that lie at the heart of these debates, and we prove that except in
highly constrained special cases, there is no method that can satisfy these
three conditions simultaneously. Moreover, even satisfying all three conditions
approximately requires that the data lie in an approximate version of one of
the constrained special cases identified by our theorem. These results suggest
some of the ways in which key notions of fairness are incompatible with each
other, and hence provide a framework for thinking about the trade-offs between
them.


title: 2WHSP: A catalog of HE and VHE gamma-ray blazars and blazar candidates

abstract:
  Aims. High Synchrotron Peaked blazars (HSPs) dominate the -ray sky at
energies larger than a few GeV; however, only a few hundred blazars of this
type have been catalogued so far. In this paper we present the 2WHSP sample,
the largest and most complete list of HSP blazars available to date, which is
an expansion of the 1WHSP catalog of gamma-ray source candidates off the
Galactic plane.
  Methods. We cross-matched a number of multi-wavelength surveys (in the radio,
infrared and X-ray bands) and applied selection criteria based on the radio to
IR and IR to X-ray spectral slopes. To ensure the selection of genuine HSPs we
examined the SED of each candidate and estimated the peak frequency of its
synchrotron emission ($\nu_{\rm peak}$) using the ASDC SED tool, including only
sources with Synchrotron peak $\nu_{\rm peak} > 10^{15}$ Hz (equivalent to
$\nu_{\rm peak} > 4$ eV).
  Results. We have assembled the largest and most complete catalog of HSP
blazars to date, which includes 1691 sources. A number of population
properties, such as infrared colours, synchrotron peak, redshift distributions,
and -ray spectral properties, have been used to characterise the sample and
maximize completeness. We also derived the radio logN-logS distribution. This
catalog has already been used to provide seeds to discover new very high energy
objects within Fermi-LAT data and to look for the counterparts of neutrino and
ultra high energy cosmic ray sources, showing its potential for the
identification of promising high-energy gamma-ray sources and multi-messenger
targets.


title:
The exchange graph and variations of the ratio of the two Symanzik
  polynomials

abstract:
  Correlation functions in quantum field theory are calculated using Feynman
amplitudes, which are finite dimensional integrals associated to graphs. The
integrand is the exponential of the ratio of the first and second Symanzik
polynomials associated to the Feynman graph, which are described in terms of
the spanning trees and spanning 2-forests of the graph, respectively.
  In a previous paper with Bloch, Burgos and Fres\'an, we related this ratio to
the asymptotic of the Archimedean height pairing between degree zero divisors
on degenerating families of Riemann surfaces. Motivated by this, we consider in
this paper the variation of the ratio of the two Symanzik polynomials under
bounded perturbations of the geometry of the graph. This is a natural problem
in connection with the theory of nilpotent and SL2 orbits in Hodge theory.
  Our main result is the boundedness of variation of the ratio. For this we
define the exchange graph of a given graph which encodes the exchange
properties between spanning trees and spanning 2-forests in the graph. We
provide a description of the connected components of this graph, and use this
to prove our result on boundedness of the variations.


title: Removable singularities for degenerate elliptic Pucci operators

abstract:
  In this paper we introduce some fully nonlinear second order operators
defined as weighted partial sums of the eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix,
arising in geometrical contexts, with the aim to extend maximum principles and
removable singularities results to cases of highly degenerate ellipticity.nn


title: Temporal Logic Programs with Variables

abstract:
  In this note we consider the problem of introducing variables in temporal
logic programs under the formalism of "Temporal Equilibrium Logic" (TEL), an
extension of Answer Set Programming (ASP) for dealing with linear-time modal
operators. To this aim, we provide a definition of a first-order version of TEL
that shares the syntax of first-order Linear-time Temporal Logic (LTL) but has
a different semantics, selecting some LTL models we call "temporal stable
models". Then, we consider a subclass of theories (called "splittable temporal
logic programs") that are close to usual logic programs but allowing a
restricted use of temporal operators. In this setting, we provide a syntactic
definition of "safe variables" that suffices to show the property of "domain
independence" -- that is, addition of arbitrary elements in the universe does
not vary the set of temporal stable models. Finally, we present a method for
computing the derivable facts by constructing a non-temporal logic program with
variables that is fed to a standard ASP grounder. The information provided by
the grounder is then used to generate a subset of ground temporal rules which
is equivalent to (and generally smaller than) the full program instantiation.


title:
Wedderburn-Malcev decomposition of one-sided ideals of finite
  dimensional algebras

abstract:
  Let $A$ be a finite dimensional associative algebra over a perfect field and
let $R$ be the radical of $A$. We show that for every one-sided ideal $I$ of
$A$ there exists a semisimple subalgebra $S$ of $A$ such that $I=I_{S}\oplus
I_{R}$ where $I_{S}=I\cap S$. and $I_{R}=I\cap R$.


title: Toward a Science of Autonomy for Physical Science: Healthcare

abstract:
  In Star Wars Episode V, we see Luke Skywalker being repaired by a surgical
robot. In the context of the movie, this doesn't seem surprising or disturbing.
After all, it is a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. It would
never happen here. Or could it? Would we accept a robot as our doctor, our
surgeon, or our in-home care specialist? Imagine walking into an operating room
and no one was there. You are instructed to lie down on the operating table,
and the OR system takes over. Would you feel comfortable with this possible
future world?