title: K-Regret Queries Using Multiplicative Utility Functions

abstract:
  The k-regret query aims to return a size-k subset S of a database D such
that, for any query user that selects a data object from this size-k subset S
rather than from database D, her regret ratio is minimized. The regret ratio
here is modeled by the relative difference in the optimality between the
locally optimal object in S and the globally optimal object in D. The
optimality of a data object in turn is modeled by a utility function of the
query user. Unlike traditional top-k queries, the k-regret query does not
minimize the regret ratio for a specific utility function. Instead, it
considers a family of infinite utility functions F, and aims to find a size-k
subset that minimizes the maximum regret ratio of any utility function in F.
  Studies on k-regret queries have focused on the family of additive utility
functions, which have limitations in modeling individuals' preferences and
decision making processes, especially for a common observation called the
diminishing marginal rate of substitution (DMRS). We introduce k-regret queries
with multiplicative utility functions, which are more expressive in modeling
the DMRS, to overcome those limitations. We propose a query algorithm with
bounded regret ratios. To showcase the applicability of the algorithm, we apply
it to a special family of multiplicative utility functions, the Cobb-Douglas
family of utility functions, and a closely related family of utility functions,
the Constant Elasticity of Substitution family of utility functions, both of
which are frequently used utility functions in microeconomics. After a further
study of the query properties, we propose a heuristic algorithm that produces
even smaller regret ratios in practice. Extensive experiments on the proposed
algorithms confirm that they consistently achieve small maximum regret ratios.


title: Cutoff estimates for the Becker-D\"oring equations

abstract:
  This paper continues the authors' previous study (SIAM J. Math. Anal., 2016)
of the trend toward equilibrium of the Becker-D\"oring equations with
subcritical mass, by characterizing certain fine properties of solutions to the
linearized equation. In particular, we partially characterize the spectrum of
the linearized operator, showing that it contains the entire imaginary axis in
polynomially weighted spaces. Moreover, we prove detailed cutoff estimates that
establish upper and lower bounds on the lifetime of a class of perturbations to
equilibrium.


title: Nanoscale self-templating for oxide epitaxy with large symmetry mismatch

abstract:
  Direct observations using scanning transmission electron microscopy unveil an
intriguing interfacial bi-layer that enables epitaxial growth of a strain-free,
monoclinic, bronze-phase VO2(B) thin film on a perovskite SrTiO3 (STO)
substrate. We observe an ultrathin (2-3 unit cells) interlayer best described
as highly strained VO2(B) nanodomains combined with an extra (Ti,V)O2 layer on
the TiO2 terminated STO (001) surface. By forming a fully coherent interface
with the STO substrate and a semi-coherent interface with the strain-free
epitaxial VO2(B) film above, the interfacial bi-layer enables the epitaxial
connection of the two materials despite their large symmetry and lattice
mismatch.


title: Low-lying charmed and charmed-strange baryon states

abstract:
  In this work, we systematically study the mass spectra and strong decays of
$1P$ and $2S$ charmed and charmed-strange baryons in the framework of
nonrelativistic constituent quark models. With the light quark cluster-heavy
quark picture, the masses are simply calculated by a potential model. The
strong decays are studied by the Eichten-Hill-Quigg decay formula. Masses and
decay properties of the well-established $1S$ and $1P$ states can be reproduced
by our method. $\Sigma_c(2800)^{0,+,++}$ can be assigned as a
$\Sigma_{c2}(3/2^-)$ or $\Sigma_{c2}(5/2^-)$ state. We prefer to interpret the
signal $\Sigma_c(2850)^0$ as a $2S(1/2^+)$ state although at present we cannot
thoroughly exclude the possibility that this is the same state as
$\Sigma_c(2800)^0$. $\Lambda_c(2765)^+$ or $\Sigma_c(2765)^+$ could be
explained as the $\Lambda_c^+(2S)$ state or $\Sigma^+_{c1}(1/2^-)$ state,
respectively. We propose to measure the branching ratio of
$\mathcal{B}(\Sigma_c(2455)\pi)/\mathcal{B}(\Sigma_c(2520)\pi)$ in future,
which may disentangle the puzzle of this state. Our results support
$\Xi_c(2980)^{0,+}$ as the first radial excited state of $\Xi_c(2470)^{0,+}$
with $J^P=1/2^+$. The assignment of $\Xi_c(2930)^0$ is analogous to
$\Sigma_c(2800)^{0,+,++}$, \emph{i.e.}, a $\Xi^\prime_{c2}(3/2^-)$ or
$\Xi^\prime_{c2}(5/2^-)$ state. In addition, we predict some typical ratios
among partial decay widths, which are valuable for experimental search for
these missing charmed and charmed-strange baryons.


title:
CTEQ-TEA parton distribution functions and HERA Run I and II combined
  data

abstract:
  We analyze the impact of the recent HERA run I+II combination of inclusive
deep inelastic scattering cross-section data on the CT14 global analysis of
PDFs. New PDFs at NLO and NNLO, called CT14$_{\textrm{HERA2}}$, are obtained by
a refit of the CT14 data ensembles, in which the HERA run I combined
measurements are replaced by the new HERA run I+II combination. The CT14
functional parametrization of PDFs is flexible enough to allow good
descriptions of different flavor combinations, so we use the same
parametrization for CT14$_{\textrm{HERA2}}$ but with an additional shape
parameter for describing the strange quark PDF. We find that the HERA I+II data
can be fit reasonably well, and both CT14 and CT14$_{\textrm{HERA2}}$ PDFs can
describe equally well the non-HERA data included in our global analysis.
Because the CT14 and CT14$_{\textrm{HERA2}}$ PDFs agree well within the PDF
errors, we continue to recommend CT14 PDFs for the analysis of LHC Run 2
experiments.


title: Baryogenesis via leptonic CP-violating phase transition

abstract:
  We propose a new mechanism to generate a lepton asymmetry based on the vacuum
CP-violating phase transition (CPPT). This approach differs from classical
thermal leptogenesis as a specific seesaw model, and its UV completion, need
not be specified. The lepton asymmetry is generated via the dynamically
realised coupling of the Weinberg operator during the phase transition. This
mechanism provides a connection with low-energy neutrino observables.


title: Generic I0 at $\aleph_\omega$

abstract:
  In this paper it is introduced a generic large cardinal akin to I0, and its
consequences are analyzed in the case that $\aleph_\omega$ is such a generic
large cardinal. In this case $\aleph_\omega$ is J\'{o}nsson, and in a
choiceless inner model many properties hold that are in contrast with PCF in
ZFC.


title: Self-averaging sequences which fail to converge

abstract:
  We consider self-averaging sequences in which each term is a weighted average
over previous terms. For several sequences of this kind it is known that they
do not converge to a limit. These sequences share the property that $n$th term
is mainly based on terms around a fixed fraction of $n$. We give a
probabilistic interpretation to such sequences and give weak conditions under
which it is natural to expect non-convergence. Our methods are illustrated by
application to the group Russian roulette problem.


title: A Framework for Algebraic Characterizations in Recursive Analysis

abstract:
  Algebraic characterizations of the computational aspects of functions defined
over the real numbers provide very effective tool to understand what
computability and complexity over the reals, and generally over continuous
spaces, mean. This is relevant for both communities of computer scientists and
mathematical analysts, particularly the latter who do not understand (and/or
like) the language of machines and string encodings. Recursive analysis can be
considered the most standard framework of computation over continuous spaces,
it is however defined in a very machine specific way which does not leave much
to intuitiveness. Recently several characterizations, in the form of function
algebras, of recursively computable functions and some sub-recursive classes
were introduced. These characterizations shed light on the hidden behavior of
recursive analysis as they convert complex computational operations on
sequences of real objects to "simple" intuitive mathematical operations such as
integration or taking limits. The authors previously presented a framework for
obtaining algebraic characterizations at the complexity level over compact
domains. The current paper presents a comprehensive extension to that
framework. Though we focus our attention in this paper on functions defined
over the whole real line, the framework, and accordingly the obtained results,
can be easily extended to functions defined over arbitrary domains.


title:
Ultrafast, polarized, single-photon emission from m-plane InGaN Quantum
  Dots on GaN nanowires

abstract:
  We demonstrate single photon emission from self-assembled m-plane InGaN
quantum dots (QDs) embedded on the side-walls of GaN nanowires. A combination
of electron microscopy, cathodoluminescence, time-resolved micro-PL and photon
autocorrelation experiments give a thorough evaluation of the QDs structural
and optical properties. The QD exhibits anti-bunched emission up to 100 K, with
a measured autocorrelation function of g^2(0) = 0.28 (0.03) at 5 K. Studies on
a statistically significant number of QDs show that these m-plane QDs exhibit
very fast radiative lifetimes (260 +/- 55 ps) suggesting smaller internal
fields than any of the previously reported c-plane and a-plane QDs. Moreover,
the observed single photons are almost completely linearly polarized aligned
perpendicular to the crystallographic c-axis with a degree of linear
polarization of 0.84 +/- 0.12. Such InGaN QDs incorporated in a nanowire system
meet many of the requirements for implementation into quantum information
systems and could potentially open the door to wholly new device concepts.


title: Virtual Extensions of Modules

abstract:
  In this article we are examining extensions and some basic diagrammatic
properties of modules, in both cases from a new, "virtual" point of view. As
natural background for investigating the kind of problems we are dealing with,
the virtual category of a module M is introduced, having as objects the
submodules of M's subquotients modulo some identifications. In the case of
extensions our approach implies viewing "proportionality classes" of extensions
of (dually, by) a simple module by (resp. of) another simple as quotients of a
certain quotient (which is in fact a subdirect product) of a projective cover,
that comprises all those classes - or dually as submodules of a comprising
submodule (which is a push-out) of an injective hull. In particular we become
thus able to upgrade the Yoneda correspondence to a bimodule isomorphism. Basic
steps toward the foundation of and investigation into the theory of Virtual
Diagrams are also made here. In particular, the "virtuality group" A(D) of a
virtual diagram D of a module M is introduced, generated by the D-visible
virtual constituents of M, with respect to an addition that generalizes the one
of submodules in a module.


title:
Corrigendum to "Is the expertise of evaluation panels congruent with the
  research interests of the research groups: a quantitative approach based on
  barycenters" [Journal of Informetrics 9(4) (2015) 704-721]

abstract:
  In Rahman, Guns, Rousseau, and Engels (2015) we described several approaches
to determine the cognitive distance between two units. One of these approaches
was based on what we called barycenters in N dimensions. This note corrects
this terminology and introduces the more adequate term 'similarity-adapted
publication vectors'.


title:
Possibility of microscopic liquid water formation at landing sites on
  Mars and their observational potential

abstract:
  Microscopic liquid brines, especially calcium-perchlorate could emerge by
deliquescence on Mars during night time hours. Using climate model computations
and orbital humidity observations, the ideal periods and their annual plus
daily characteristics at various past, current and future landing sites were
compared. Such results provide context for future analysis and targeting the
related observations by the next missions for Mars. Based on the analysis, at
most (but not all) past missions' landing sites, microscopic brine could emerge
during night time for different durations. Analysing the conditions at ExoMars
rover's primary landing site at Oxia Planum, the best annual period was found
to be between $L_s$ 115 - 225, and in $Local\hspace{0.1cm} Time$ 2 - 5, after
midnight. In an ideal case, 4 hours of continuous liquid phase can emerge
there. Local conditions might cause values to differ from those estimated by
the model. Thermal inertia could especially make such differences (low TI
values favour fast cooling and $\textrm{H}_2\textrm{O}$ cold trapping at loose
surfaces) and the concentration of calcium-perchlorate salt in the regolith
also influences the process (it might occur preferentially at long-term exposed
surfaces without recent loose dust coverage). These factors should be taken
into account while targeting future liquid water observations on Mars.


title:
What is the mechanism of power-law distributed Poincar\'e recurrences in
  higher-dimensional systems?

abstract:
  The statistics of Poincar\'e recurrence times in Hamiltonian systems
typically shows a power-law decay with chaotic trajectories sticking to some
phase-space regions for long times. For higher-dimensional systems the
mechanism of this power-law trapping is still unknown. We investigate trapped
orbits of a generic 4D symplectic map in phase space and frequency space and
find that, in contrast to 2D maps, the trapping is (i) not due to a hierarchy
in phase space. Instead, it occurs at the surface of the regular region, (ii)
outside of the Arnold web. The chaotic dynamics in this sticky region is (iii)
dominated by resonance channels which reach far into the chaotic region: We
observe (iii.a) clear signatures of some kind of partial transport barriers and
conjecture (iii.b) a stochastic process with an effective drift along resonance
channels. These two processes lay the basis for a future understanding of the
mechanism of power-law trapping in higher-dimensional systems.


title: Antenna Selection for MIMO-NOMA Networks

abstract:
  This paper considers the joint antenna selection (AS) problem for a classical
two-user non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) network where both the base
station and users are equipped with multiple antennas. Since the
exhaustive-search-based optimal AS scheme is computationally prohibitive when
the number of antennas is large, two computationally efficient joint AS
algorithms, namely max-min-max AS (AIA-AS) and max-max-max AS (A$^3$-AS), are
proposed to maximize the system sum-rate. The asymptotic closed-form
expressions for the average sum-rates for both AIA-AS and A$^3$-AS are derived
in the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime, respectively. Numerical results
demonstrate that both AIA-AS and A$^3$-AS can yield significant performance
gains over comparable schemes. Furthermore, AIA-AS can provide better user
fairness, while the A$^3$-AS scheme can achieve the near-optimal sum-rate
performance.


title: Does the configurational entropy of polydisperse particles exist?

abstract:
  Classical particle systems characterized by continuous size polydispersity,
such as colloidal materials, are not straightforwardly described using
statistical mechanics, since fundamental issues may arise from particle
distinguishability. Because the mixing entropy in such systems is divergent in
the thermodynamic limit we show that the configurational entropy estimated from
standard computational approaches to characterize glassy states also diverges.
This reasoning would suggest that polydisperse materials cannot undergo a glass
transition, in contradiction to experiments. We explain that this argument
stems from the confusion between configurations in phase space and states
defined by free energy minima, and propose a simple method to compute a finite
and physically meaningful configurational entropy in continuously polydisperse
systems. Physically, the proposed approach relies on an effective description
of the system as an $M^*$-component system with a finite $M^*$, for which
finite mixing and configurational entropies are obtained. We show how to
directly determine $M^*$ from computer simulations in a range of glass-forming
models with different size polydispersities, characterized by hard and soft
interparticle interactions, and by additive and non-additive interactions. Our
approach provides consistent results in all cases and demonstrates that the
configurational entropy of polydisperse system exists, is finite, and can be
quantitatively estimated.


title:
Lattice thermal expansion and anisotropic displacements in
  {\alpha}-sulfur from diffraction experiments and first-principles theory

abstract:
  Thermal properties of solid-state materials are a fundamental topic of study
with important practical implications. For example, anisotropic displacement
parameters (ADPs) are routinely used in physics, chemistry, and crystallography
to quantify the thermal motion of atoms in crystals. ADPs are commonly derived
from diffraction experiments, but recent developments have also enabled their
first-principles prediction using periodic density functional theory (DFT).
Here, we combine experiments and dispersion-corrected DFT to quantify lattice
thermal expansion and ADPs in crystalline {\alpha}-sulfur (S8), a prototypical
elemental solid that is controlled by the interplay of covalent and van der
Waals interactions. We first report on single-crystal and powder X-ray
diffraction (XRD) measurements that provide new and improved reference data
from 10 K up to room temperature. We then use several popular
dispersion-corrected DFT methods to predict vibrational and thermal properties
of {\alpha}-sulfur, including the anisotropic lattice thermal expansion.
Hereafter, ADPs are derived in the commonly used harmonic approximation (in the
computed zero-Kelvin structure) and also in the quasi-harmonic approximation
(QHA) which takes the predicted lattice thermal expansion into account. At the
PBE+D3(BJ) level, the latter leads to excellent agreement with experiments.
Finally, more general implications of this study for realistic materials
modeling at finite temperature are discussed.


title:
The excitation energy spectrum for a system with electron pairs
  tunneling in a two-leg ladder has a doping depended gap

abstract:
  A new model with a new Hamiltonian is offered as the means for studying
properties of a system of strongly correlated electrons. Consideration of the
simplest possible situation, namely a system on non-interacting electrons in a
two-leg ladder, leads to an expression for the excitation energy spectrum with
no energy gap at the half-filling and with an energy gap away from the half
filling.


title:
Optimistic and Pessimistic Neural Networks for Scene and Object
  Recognition

abstract:
  In this paper the application of uncertainty modeling to convolutional neural
networks is evaluated. A novel method for adjusting the network's predictions
based on uncertainty information is introduced. This allows the network to be
either optimistic or pessimistic in its prediction scores. The proposed method
builds on the idea of applying dropout at test time and sampling a predictive
mean and variance from the network's output. Besides the methodological
aspects, implementation details allowing for a fast evaluation are presented.
Furthermore, a multilabel network architecture is introduced that strongly
benefits from the presented approach. In the evaluation it will be shown that
modeling uncertainty allows for improving the performance of a given model
purely at test time without any further training steps. The evaluation
considers several applications in the field of computer vision, including
object classification and detection as well as scene attribute recognition.


title: Differentially-Private Counting of Users' Spatial Regions

abstract:
  Mining of spatial data is an enabling technology for mobile services,
Internet-connected cars, and the Internet of Things. But the very
distinctiveness of spatial data that drives utility, can cost user privacy.
Past work has focused upon points and trajectories for differentially-private
release. In this work, we continue the tradition of privacy-preserving spatial
analytics, focusing not on point or path data, but on planar spatial regions.
Such data represents the area of a user's most frequent visitation---such as
"around home and nearby shops". Specifically we consider the
differentially-private release of data structures that support range queries
for counting users' spatial regions. Counting planar regions leads to unique
challenges not faced in existing work. A user's spatial region that straddles
multiple data structure cells can lead to duplicate counting at query time. We
provably avoid this pitfall by leveraging the Euler characteristic for the
first time with differential privacy. To address the increased sensitivity of
range queries to spatial region data, we calibrate privacy-preserving noise
using bounded user region size and a constrained inference that uses robust
least absolute deviations. Our novel constrained inference reduces noise and
promotes covertness by (privately) imposing consistency. We provide a full
end-to-end theoretical analysis of both differential privacy and
high-probability utility for our approach using concentration bounds. A
comprehensive experimental study on several real-world datasets establishes
practical validity.


title:
No Quantum Process Can Explain the Existence of the Preferred Basis:
  Decoherence Is Not Universal

abstract:
  Environment induced decoherence, and other quantum processes, have been
proposed in the literature to explain the apparent spontaneous selection - out
of the many mathematically eligible bases - of a privileged measurement basis
that corresponds to what we actually observe. This paper describes such
processes, and demonstrates that - contrary to common belief - no such process
can actually lead to a preferred basis in general. The key observation is that
environment induced decoherence implicitly assumes a prior independence of the
observed system, the observer and the environment. However, such independence
cannot be guaranteed, and we show that environment induced decoherence does not
succeed in establishing a preferred measurement basis in general. We conclude
that the existence of the preferred basis must be postulated in quantum
mechanics, and that changing the basis for a measurement is, and must be,
described as an actual physical process.


title: Algebraic Tools for the Analysis of State Space Models

abstract:
  We present algebraic techniques to analyze state space models in the areas of
structural identifiability, observability, and indistinguishability. While the
emphasis is on surveying existing algebraic tools for studying ODE systems, we
also present a variety of new results. In particular: on structural
identifiability, we present a method using linear algebra to find identifiable
functions of the parameters of a model for unidentifiable models. On
observability, we present techniques using Gr\"obner bases and algebraic
matroids to test algebraic observability of state space models. On
indistinguishability, we present a sufficient condition for distinguishability
using computational algebra and demonstrate testing indistinguishability.


title:
Super-resolving multiresolution images with band-independant geometry of
  multispectral pixels

abstract:
  A new resolution enhancement method is presented for multispectral and
multi-resolution images, such as these provided by the Sentinel-2 satellites.
Starting from the highest resolution bands, band-dependent information
(reflectance) is separated from information that is common to all bands
(geometry of scene elements). This model is then applied to unmix
low-resolution bands, preserving their reflectance, while propagating
band-independent information to preserve the sub-pixel details. A reference
implementation is provided, with an application example for super-resolving
Sentinel-2 data.


title:
Raman spectroscopy of rare-earth orthoferrites RFeO3 (R = La, Sm, Eu,
  Gd, Tb, Dy)

abstract:
  We report a Raman scattering study of six rare earth orthoferrites RFeO3,
with R = La, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy. The use of extensive polarized Raman
scattering of SmFeO3 and first-principles calculations enable the assignment of
the observed phonon modes to vibrational symmetries and atomic displacements.
The assignment of the spectra and their comparison throughout the whole series
allows correlating the phonon modes with the orthorhombic structural
distortions of RFeO3 perovskites. In particular, the positions of two specific
Ag modes scale linearly with the two FeO6 octahedra tilt angles, allowing the
distortion throughout the series. At variance with literature, we find that the
two octahedra tilt angles scale differently with the vibration frequencies of
their respective Ag modes. This behavior as well as the general relations
between the tilt angles, the frequencies of the associated modes and the ionic
radii are rationalized in a simple Landau model. The reported Raman spectra and
associated phonon-mode assignment provide reference data for structural
investigations of the whole series of orthoferrites.


title:
One- and two-dimensional solitons in PT-symmetric systems emulating the
  spin-orbit coupling

abstract:
  We introduce a two-dimensional (2D) system, which can be implemented in
dual-core planar optical couplers with the Kerr nonlinearity in its cores,
making it possible to blend effects of the PT symmetry, represented by the
balanced linear gain and loss in the two cores, and spin-orbit coupling (SOC),
emulated by a spatially biased coupling between the cores. Families of 1D and
2D solitons and their stability boundaries are identified. In the 1D setting,
the addition of the SOC terms leads, at first, to shrinkage of the stability
area for PT-symmetric solitons, which is followed by its rapid expansion. 2D
solitons have their stability region too, in spite of the simultaneous action
of two major destabilizing factors, viz., the collapse driven by the Kerr
nonlinearity, and a trend towards spontaneous breakup of the gain-loss balance.
In the limit of the SOC terms dominating over the intrinsic diffraction, the 1D
system gives rise to a new model for gap solitons, which admits exact
analytical solutions.


title:
Change in activity character of coronae of low-mass stars of various
  spectral types

abstract:
  We study the dependence of the coronal activity index on the star's rotation
rate. This question was considered earlier for 824 late-type stars on the basis
of a consolidated catalogue of the soft X-ray fluxes. We carry out a more
refined analysis separately for G, K and M dwarfs. They distinctively exhibit
two modes of activity. The first one is the saturation mode, it is
characteristic of young stars and is practically not related to their rotation.
The second one refers to the solar-type activity the level of which strongly
depends on the rotation period. We show that the transition from one mode to
another takes place at the rotation periods of 1.1, 3.3 and 7.2 days for the
stars of spectral types G2, K4 and M3 respectively. In the light of the
discovery of superflares on G and K stars on the Kepler spacecraft there arises
a question of how these objects differ from other active late-type stars. We
analyse the location of superflare stars relative to the stars observed by
Kepler on the "amplitude of rotational brightness modulation (ARM) -- rotation
period" diagram. The value of ARM reflects the relative spots area on a star
and characterises the activity level in the whole atmosphere. It is shown that
G and K superflare stars are basically fast rotating young objects, but some of
them belong to the stars with the solar type of activity.


title: DEAP-3600 dark matter experiment

abstract:
  DEAP-3600 is a single phase liquid argon (LAr) dark matter experiment,
located 2 km underground at SNOLAB, in Sudbury, Canada. The detector has 1
tonne fiducial mass of LAr. The target sensitivity to spin-independent
scattering of 100 GeV weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) is
10$^{-46}$ cm$^{2}$. The DEAP-3600 background target is $<$ 0.6 background
events in the WIMP region of interest in 3 tonne-years. The strategies to
achieve this background include pulse shape discrimination to mitigate electron
recoil and using ultra low radioactive materials for detector construction.
Furthermore, to reduce neutron and alpha backgrounds, the DEAP-3600 acrylic
vessel was sanded in situ to mitigate radon exposure of surfaces during
construction and fabrication. The experiment is currently in the commissioning
phase and will begin physics data taking later this year. This paper presents
an overview of the experiment, its cross-section sensitivity to WIMPs and its
current status.


title: Implicit Linear Algebra and its Applications

abstract:
  Linear systems often involve, as a basic building block, solutions of
equations of the form \begin{align*} A_Sx_S&+A_Px_P =0\\ A'_Sx_S & =0,
\end{align*} where our primary interest might be in the vector variable $x_P.$
Usually, neither $x_S$ nor $x_P$ can be written as a function of the other but
they are linked through the linear relationship, that of $(x_S,x_P) $ belonging
to $\mathcal{V}_{SP},$ the solution space of the first of the two equations. If
$\mathcal{V}_{S}$ is the solution space of the second equation, we may regard
the final space of solutions $\mathcal{V}_{P}$ as derived from the other two
spaces by an operation, say, `$\mathcal{V}_{P}=\mathcal{V}_{SP}\leftrightarrow
\mathcal{V}_{S}.$' This operation, together with linear relationships, can be
used to build a version of linear algebra which we call `implicit linear
algebra'. There are two basic results - an `implicit inversion theorem' which
describes when $\mathcal{V}_{S}$ can be obtained from $\mathcal{V}_{P}$ and
$\mathcal{V}_{SP},$ and an `implicit duality theorem' which says
$\mathcal{V}_{P}^{\bot}=\mathcal{V}_{SP}^{\bot}\leftrightarrow
\mathcal{V}_{S}^{\bot}.$ These notions originally arose in the building of
circuit simulators. They have been reinterpreted for the present purpose. Using
them, we develop an algorithmic version of linear multivariable control theory,
avoiding the computationally expensive idea of state equations. We replace them
by `emulators', which are easy to build, but can achieve most of whatever can
be done with state equations. We define the notions of generalized autonomous
systems and generalized operators, and develop a primitive spectral theory for
the latter. Using these ideas, we develop the usual controllability -
observability duality, state and output feedback, pole placement etc.


title: Thermodynamic Geodesics of a Reissner Nordstr\"om Black Hole

abstract:
  Starting from a Geometrothermodynamics metric for the space of thermodynamic
equilibrium states in the mass representation, we use numerical techniques to
analyse the thermodynamic geodesics of a supermassive Reissner Nordstr\"{o}m
black hole in isolation. Appropriate constraints are obtained by taking into
account the processes of Hawking radiation and Schwinger pair--production. We
model the black hole in line with the work of Hiscock and Weems. It can be
deduced that the relation which the geodesics establish between the entropy $S$
and electric charge $Q$ of the black hole extremises changes in the black
hole's mass. Indeed, the expression for the entropy of an extremal black hole
is an exact solution to the geodesic equation. We also find that in certain
cases, the geodesics describe the evolution brought about by the constant
emission of Hawking radiation and charged-particle pairs.


title:
Effects of processing on the stability of molybdenum oxide ultra-thin
  films

abstract:
  The effects of wet chemical processing conventionally employed in device
fabrication standards are systematically studied on molybdenum oxide (MoOx)
ultra-thin films. We have combined x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS),
angle resolved XPS and x-ray reflectivity techniques to provide deep insights
into the changes in composition, structure and electronic states upon treatment
of films with different initial stoichiometry prepared by reactive sputtering.
Our results show significant reduction effects associated with the development
of gap states in MoOx, as well as changes in the composition, density and
structure of the films, systematically correlated with the initial oxidation
state of Mo.


title:
Fractality of Massive Graphs: Scalable Analysis with Sketch-Based
  Box-Covering Algorithm

abstract:
  Analysis and modeling of networked objects are fundamental pieces of modern
data mining. Most real-world networks, from biological to social ones, are
known to have common structural properties. These properties allow us to model
the growth processes of networks and to develop useful algorithms. One
remarkable example is the fractality of networks, which suggests the
self-similar organization of global network structure. To determine the
fractality of a network, we need to solve the so-called box-covering problem,
where preceding algorithms are not feasible for large-scale networks. The lack
of an efficient algorithm prevents us from investigating the fractal nature of
large-scale networks. To overcome this issue, we propose a new box-covering
algorithm based on recently emerging sketching techniques. We theoretically
show that it works in near-linear time with a guarantee of solution accuracy.
In experiments, we have confirmed that the algorithm enables us to study the
fractality of million-scale networks for the first time. We have observed that
its outputs are sufficiently accurate and that its time and space requirements
are orders of magnitude smaller than those of previous algorithms.


title: B-Fredholm Elements in Rings and Algebras

abstract:
  In this paper, we study B-Fredholm elements in rings and algebras. After
characterising these elements in terms of generalized Fredholm elements, we
will give a condition on the socle of a unital primitive Banach algebra $A$,
under which we prove that an element of $A$ is a B-Fredholm element of index
$0$ if and only if it is the sum of a Drazin invertible element of $A$ and an
element of the socle of $A$.


title: An Infinite Dimensional Model for A Single Server Priority Queue

abstract:
  We consider a Markovian single server queue in which customers are
preemptively scheduled by exogenously assigned priority levels. The novelty in
our model is that the priority levels are randomly assigned from a continuous
probability measure rather than a discrete one. Because the priority levels are
drawn from a continuum, the queue is modeled by a measure-valued stochastic
process. We analyze the steady state behavior of this process and provide
several results. We derive a measure that describes the average distribution of
customer priority levels in the system; we provide a formula for the expected
sojourn time of a customer as a function of his priority level; and we provide
a formula for the expected waiting time of a customer as a function of his
priority level. We interpret these quantitative results and give a qualitative
understanding of how the priority levels affect individual customers as well as
how they affect the system as a whole. The theoretical analysis is verified by
simulation. We also discuss some directions of future work.


title: Les chemins de Schr\"oder

abstract:
  Apr\`es avoir pos\'e les d\'efinitions n\'ecessaires \`a la compr\'ehension
du sujet, nous discuterons de statistique d'inversion diagonale dans les
$r$-Schr\"oder, de chemins de stationnement dans les $r$-Schr\"oder \`a pente
enti\`ere et nous d\'evelopperons une formule pour les chemins de Schr\"oder
ayant une fraction unitaire comme pente.
  After setting the definitions we discuss of diagonal inversions on
$r$-Shr\"oder paths, of parking fonctions on $r$-Shr\"oder paths with an
integer slope and we develop a formula for Shr\"oder paths with a $1/r$ slope,
with $r$ an integer.


title: Cs+ sputtered clusters from multi-walled carbon nanotubes and graphite

abstract:
  Experiments with multiwalled carbon nanotubes and graphite as targets in a
source of negative ions with cesium sputtering have shown that nanotubes with
nanometer radii and micrometer length can be compared with micrometer size
graphite grains to understand the irradiation effects that include the
formation, sputtering of carbon clusters and the resulting structural changes.
The simultaneous adsorption of cesium on the surface and bombardment by
energetic cesium ions is shown to play its role in the cluster formation and
sputtering of carbon atoms and clusters and the cesium substituted carbon
clusters as anions. Qualitative and quantitative sputtered species outputs are
related to their respective structures. Structural changes are shown to occur
in MWCNTs and seen in SEM micrographs. The individual identity of the heavily
bombarded MWCNTs may have given way to the merged structures while effects on
the structure of heavily irradiated graphite grains size needs to be further
investigated


title: Evaluating the Fabius function

abstract:
  The Thue-Morse sequence (1, -1, -1, 1, -1, 1, 1, ...) can in a sense be
naturally extended to a continuous function f called the Fabius function. It is
shown how to determine the exact value of f(x) whenever x is the ratio between
a positive integer and a power of 2.


title: The minimum overlap problem revisited

abstract:
  For a given partition of (1, 2, ..., 2n) into two disjoint subsets A and B
with n elements in each, consider the maximum number of times any integer
occurs as the difference between an element of A and an element of B. The
minimum value of this maximum (over all partitions) is denoted by M(n). By a
result of Swinnerton-Dyer, one way to estimate lim M(n)/n from above is to give
step functions that describe the density of A, say, throughout the interval [1,
2n] for a large n rather than looking for explicit partitions. A step function
that improves the upper bound from 0.382002... to 0.380926... is given.


title:
Analysis of large effective electric fields of weakly polar molecules
  for electron electric dipole moment searches

abstract:
  The electric dipole moment of an electron (eEDM) is one of the sensitive
probes of physics beyond the standard model. The possible existence of the eEDM
gives rise to an experimentally observed energy shift, which is proportional to
the effective electric field (Eeff) of a target molecule. Hence, an analysis of
the quantities that enhance Eeff is necessary to identify suitable molecules
for eEDM searches. In the context of such searches, it is generally believed
that a molecule with larger electric polarization also has a larger value of
Eeff. However, our Dirac-Fock and relativistic coupled-cluster singles and
doubles calculations show that the hydrides of Yb and Hg have larger Eeff than
those of fluorides, even though their polarizations are smaller. This is due to
significant mixing of valence s and p orbitals of the heavy atom in the
molecules. This mixing has been attributed to the energy differences of the
valence atomic orbitals and the overlap of the two atomic orbitals based on the
orbital interaction theory.


title:
On the black hole mass of the gamma-ray emitting narrow-line Seyfert 1
  galaxy 1H 0323+342

abstract:
  Narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies have been identified by the Fermi Gamma-Ray
Space Telescope as a rare class of gamma-ray emitting active galactic nuclei
(AGN). The lowest-redshift candidate among them is the source 1H 0323+342. Here
we present quasi-simultaneous Gemini near-infrared and Keck optical
spectroscopy for it, from which we derive a black hole mass based on both the
broad Balmer and Paschen emission lines. We supplement these observations with
a NuSTAR X-ray spectrum taken about two years earlier, from which we constrain
the black hole mass based on the short timescale spectral variability. Our
multiwavelength observations suggest a black hole mass of ~2x10^7 solar masses,
which agrees well with previous estimates. We build the spectral energy
distribution and show that it is dominated by the thermal and reprocessed
emission from the accretion disc rather than the non-thermal jet component. A
detailed spectral fitting with the energy-conserving accretion disc model of
Done et al. constrains the Eddington ratio to L/L_Edd ~ 0.5 for a
(non-rotating) Schwarzschild black hole and to L/L_Edd ~ 1 for a Kerr black
hole with dimensionless spin of a*=0.8. Higher spin values and so higher
Eddington ratios are excluded, since they would strongly overpredict the
observed soft X-ray flux.


title:
Heat guiding and focusing using ballistic phonon transport in phononic
  nanostructures

abstract:
  Unlike classical heat diffusion at the macroscale, nanoscale heat transport
can occur without energy dissipation because phonons can travel in straight
lines for hundreds of nanometres. Despite recent experimental evidence of such
ballistic phonon transport, control over its directionality, and thus its
practical use, remains a challenge, as the directions of individual phonons are
chaotic. Here, we show a way to control the directionality of ballistic phonon
transport using silicon thin-films with arrays of holes. First, we demonstrate
the formation of directional heat fluxes in the passages between the holes.
Next, we use these nanostructures as a directional source of ballistic phonons
and couple the emitted phonons into nanowires. Finally, we introduce a
nanoscale thermal lens in which the phonons converge at a focal point, thus
focusing heat into a spot of a few hundred nanometres. These results provide a
basis for ray-like heat manipulations that enable nanoscale heat guiding,
dissipation, localization, confinement and rectification.


title:
BioLeaf: a professional mobile application to measure foliar damage
  caused by insect herbivory

abstract:
  Soybean is one of the ten greatest crops in the world, answering for
billion-dollar businesses every year. This crop suffers from insect herbivory
that costs millions from producers. Hence, constant monitoring of the crop
foliar damage is necessary to guide the application of insecticides. However,
current methods to measure foliar damage are expensive and dependent on
laboratory facilities, in some cases, depending on complex devices. To cope
with these shortcomings, we introduce an image processing methodology to
measure the foliar damage in soybean leaves. We developed a non-destructive
imaging method based on two techniques, Otsu segmentation and Bezier curves, to
estimate the foliar loss in leaves with or without border damage. We
instantiate our methodology in a mobile application named BioLeaf, which is
freely distributed for smartphone users. We experimented with real-world leaves
collected from a soybean crop in Brazil. Our results demonstrated that BioLeaf
achieves foliar damage quantification with precision comparable to that of
human specialists. With these results, our proposal might assist soybean
producers, reducing the time to measure foliar damage, reducing analytical
costs, and defining a commodity application that is applicable not only to soy,
but also to different crops such as cotton, bean, potato, coffee, and
vegetables.


title:
Amorphous carbon films in direct current magnetron sputtering from
  regenerative sooting discharge

abstract:
  We present results of carbon coatings on metal substrates in cylindrical
hollow cathode (CHC) direct current magnetron sputtering. This is a new
technique of making amorphous carbon film in CHC magnetron sputtering from
regenerative sooting discharge. The carbon films are deposited on Cu and Al
substrates in Ne atmosphere and compared with the films of carbon soot on the
same materials produced from conventional arc discharge between graphite
electrodes at 80 Angstrom in He background. The films are characterized using
online emission, Raman, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; X-ray
diffraction (XRD) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Raman spectroscopy
reveals the existence of graphite and diamond like structures from arc
discharge while in CHC magnetron sputtering, graphite like structures are
dominant. XRD pattern from arc discharge show precipitates of Al4C3 of
rhombohedral and hexagonal types in nanometer ranges for aluminum sample and
probable formation of diamond and hexagonal carbon in copper whilst in
magnetron sputtering we get amorphous carbon films. SEM images of surface show
collection of loose agglomerates of carbon particles in arc discharge whereas
for magnetron sputtering structures are regular with smooth edges and fine
grains.


title: Hermite Calculus

abstract:
  We develop a new method of umbral nature to treat blocks of Hermite and of
Hermite like polynomials as independent algebraic quantities. The Calculus we
propose allows the formulation of a number of practical rules allowing
significant simplifications in computational problems.


title:
A general formula for determinants and inverses of r-circulant matrices
  with third order recurrences

abstract:
  This note provides formula for determinant and inverse of r-circulant
matrices with general sequences of third order. In other words, the study
combines many papers in the literature.


title: Observables in the Guarino-Jafferis-Varela/CS-SYM duality

abstract:
  We study various semiclassical observables in the duality proposed by
Guarino, Jafferis and Varela, between a warped $AdS_4\times$ squashed $S^6$
gravitational solution and a 3 dimensional ${\cal N}=2$ SYM-CS$_k$ conformal
gauge theory, deformed from the maximal $SU(N)$ ${\cal N}=8$ SYM. Baryon
vertices corresponding to particle-like branes have unusual behaviour with $N$
and $k$ and present strong evidence for a certain level-rank duality. Wilson
loops and the anomalous dimensions of operators of high spin scale like
$(N/k)^{3/2}$. The entanglement entropy behaves like in a usual CFT. Giant
magnon operators obey the same law as in 4 dimensional ${\cal N}=4$ SYM, and
giant gravitons are also sub-determinant operators.


title: Grounding object perception in a naive agent's sensorimotor experience

abstract:
  Artificial object perception usually relies on a priori defined models and
feature extraction algorithms. We study how the concept of object can be
grounded in the sensorimotor experience of a naive agent. Without any knowledge
about itself or the world it is immersed in, the agent explores its
sensorimotor space and identifies objects as consistent networks of
sensorimotor transitions, independent from their context. A fundamental drive
for prediction is assumed to explain the emergence of such networks from a
developmental standpoint. An algorithm is proposed and tested to illustrate the
approach.


title: A hybrid structure gaseous detector for ion backflow suppression*

abstract:
  A new concept for a hybrid structure gaseous detector module with ion
backflow suppression for the time projection chamber in a future circular
collider is presented. It is a hybrid structure cascaded Gas Electron
Multiplier (GEM) with a Micromegas detector. Both Micromegas and GEM have the
capability to naturally reduce most of the ions produced in the amplification
region. The GEM also acts as the preamplifer device and increases gas gain
together with the Micromegas. Feasibility tests of the hybrid detector are
performed using an ${}^{55}$Fe X-ray source. The energy resolution is better
than 27% for 5.9 keV X-rays. It is demonstrated that a backflow ratio better
than 0.2% can be reached in the hybrid readout structure at a gain of 5000.


title:
Elliptic equations with critical exponent on a torus invariant region of
  $S^3$

abstract:
  We study the multiplicity of positive solutions of the critical elliptic
equation: $ \Delta_{\mathbb{S}^3} U = -(U^5 +\lambda U) \hspace{0.3cm}\hbox{ on
} \Omega$ that vanish on the boundary of $\Omega$, where $\Omega$ is a region
of $\mathbb{S}^3$ which is invariant by the natural $\mathbb{T}^2$-action. H.
Brezis and L. A. Peletier consider the case in which $\Omega$ is invariant by
the $SO(3)$-action, namely, when $\Omega$ is a spherical cap. We show that the
number of solutions increases as $\lambda \to -\infty$, giving an answer of a
particular case of an open problem proposed by H. Brezis and L. A. Peletier.


title: Supernovae anisotropy power spectrum

abstract:
  We contribute another anisotropy study to this field of research using Type
Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). In this work, we utilise the power spectrum calculation
method and apply it to both the current SNe Ia data and simulation. Using the
Union2.1 data set at all redshifts, we compare the spectrum of the residuals of
the observed distance moduli to that expected from an isotropic universe
affected by the Union2.1 observational uncertainties at low multipoles. Through
this comparison we find a dipolar anisotropy with tension of less that
$2\sigma$ towards $l =171^\circ \pm 21^\circ$ and $b=-26^\circ \pm 28^\circ$
which is mainly induced by anisotropic spatial distribution of the SNe with $z
> 0.2$ rather than being a cosmic effect. Furthermore, we find a tension of
$\sim 4\sigma$ at $\ell=4$ between the two spectra. Our simulations are
constructed with the characteristics of the upcoming surveys like the Large
Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), which shall bring us the largest SNe Ia
collection to date. We make predictions for the amplitude of a possible dipolar
anisotropy that would be detectable by future SNe Ia surveys.


title:
Multiplicity fluctuation and correlation of identified baryons in quark
  combination model

abstract:
  The dynamical fluctuation and correlation of multiplicity distributions of
identified baryons and antibaryons produced by the hadronization of the bulk
quark system are systematically studied in quark combination model. Starting
from the most basic dynamics of quark combination which are necessary for
multiplicity study, we analyze moments (variance, skewness and kurtosis) of
inclusive multiplicity distribution of identified baryons, two-baryon
multiplicity correlations, and baryon-antibaryon multiplicity correlations
after the hadronization of quark system with given quark number and antiquark
number. We obtain a series of interesting findings, e.g., binomial behavior of
multiplicity moments, coincide flavor dependent two-baryon correlation and
universal baryon-antibaryon correlation, which can be regarded as general
features of quark combination. We further take into account correlations and
fluctuations of quark numbers before hadronization to study their influence on
multiple production of baryons and antibaryons. We find that quark number
fluctuation and flavor conservation lead to a series of important results such
as the negative $p\bar{\Omega}^{+}$ multiplicity correlation and universal
two-baryon correlations. We also study the influence of resonance decay in
order to compare our results with future experimental data in
ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions at LHC.


title: Handelman's theorem for an order unit normed space

abstract:
  We give a detailed proof D. Handelman's theorem stating (in the context of an
order unit normed space) that a monotone sigma-complete order unit normed space
is a Banach space.


title: Adiabatic groupoids and secondary invariants in K-theory

abstract:
  In this paper we define K-theoretic secondary invariants attached to a Lie
groupoid $G$. The K-theory of $C^*_r(G_{ad}^0)$ (where $G_{ad}^0$ is the
adiabatic deformation $G$ restricted to the interval $[0,1)$) is the receptacle
for K-theoretic secondary invariants. We give a Lie groupoid version of
construction given by Piazza and Schick in the setting of the Coarse Geometry.
Our construction directly generalises to more involved geometrical situation,
such as foliations, well encoded by a Lie groupoid. Along the way we tackle the
problem of producing a wrong-way functoriality between adiabatic deformation
groupoid K-groups with respect to transverse maps. This extends the
construction of the lower shriek map given by Connes and Skandalis. Moreover we
attach a secondary invariant to the two following operators: the signature
operator on a pair of homotopically equivalent Lie groupoids; the Dirac
operator on a Lie groupoid equipped with a metric that has positive scalar
curvature $s$-fiber-wise. Furthermore we prove a Lie groupoid version of the
Delocalized APS Index Theorem of Piazza and Schick. Finally we give a product
formula for the secondary invariants and we state stability results about
cobordism classes of Lie groupoid structures and bordism classes of Lie
groupoid metric with positive scalar curvature along the $s$-fibers.
  This is the revised version accepted by Advances in Mathematics.


title: Entanglement monotones and transformations of symmetric bipartite states

abstract:
  The primary goal in the study of entanglement as a resource theory is to find
conditions that determine when one quantum state can or cannot be transformed
into another via local operations and classical communication. This is
typically done through entanglement monotones or conversion witnesses. Such
quantities cannot be computed for arbitrary quantum states in general, but it
is useful to consider classes of symmetric states for which closed-form
expressions can be found. In this paper, we show how to compute the convex roof
of any entanglement monotone for all Werner states. The convex roofs of the
well-known Vidal monotones are computed for all isotropic states, and we show
how this method can generalize to other entanglement measures and other types
of symmetries as well. We also present necessary and sufficient conditions that
determine when a pure bipartite state can be deterministically converted into a
Werner state or an isotropic state.


title: Dropout with Expectation-linear Regularization

abstract:
  Dropout, a simple and effective way to train deep neural networks, has led to
a number of impressive empirical successes and spawned many recent theoretical
investigations. However, the gap between dropout's training and inference
phases, introduced due to tractability considerations, has largely remained
under-appreciated. In this work, we first formulate dropout as a tractable
approximation of some latent variable model, leading to a clean view of
parameter sharing and enabling further theoretical analysis. Then, we introduce
(approximate) expectation-linear dropout neural networks, whose inference gap
we are able to formally characterize. Algorithmically, we show that our
proposed measure of the inference gap can be used to regularize the standard
dropout training objective, resulting in an \emph{explicit} control of the gap.
Our method is as simple and efficient as standard dropout. We further prove the
upper bounds on the loss in accuracy due to expectation-linearization, describe
classes of input distributions that expectation-linearize easily. Experiments
on three image classification benchmark datasets demonstrate that reducing the
inference gap can indeed improve the performance consistently.


title:
Small near-Earth asteroids in the Palomar Transient Factory survey: A
  real-time streak-detection system

abstract:
  Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) in the 1-100 meter size range are estimated to be
$\sim$1,000 times more numerous than the $\sim$15,000 currently-catalogued
NEAs, most of which are in the 0.5-10 kilometer size range. Impacts from 10-100
meter size NEAs are not statistically life-threatening but may cause
significant regional damage, while 1-10 meter size NEAs with low velocities
relative to Earth are compelling targets for space missions. We describe the
implementation and initial results of a real-time NEA-discovery system
specialized for the detection of small, high angular rate (visually-streaked)
NEAs in Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) images. PTF is a 1.2-m aperture,
7.3-deg$^2$ field-of-view optical survey designed primarily for the discovery
of extragalactic transients (e.g., supernovae) in 60-second exposures reaching
$\sim$20.5 visual magnitude. Our real-time NEA discovery pipeline uses a
machine-learned classifier to filter a large number of false-positive streak
detections, permitting a human scanner to efficiently and remotely identify
real asteroid streaks during the night. Upon recognition of a streaked NEA
detection (typically within an hour of the discovery exposure), the scanner
triggers follow-up with the same telescope and posts the observations to the
Minor Planet Center for worldwide confirmation. We describe our ten initial
confirmed discoveries, all small NEAs that passed 0.3-15 lunar distances from
Earth. Lastly, we derive useful scaling laws for comparing
streaked-NEA-detection capabilities of different surveys as a function of their
hardware and survey-pattern characteristics. This work most directly informs
estimates of the streak-detection capabilities of the Zwicky Transient Facility
(ZTF, planned to succeed PTF in 2017), which will apply PTF's current
resolution and sensitivity over a 47-deg$^2$ field-of-view.


title: Lamb shift in muonic ions of lithium, beryllium and boron

abstract:
  We present a precise calculation of the Lamb shift $(2P_{1/2}-2S_{1/2})$ in
muonic ions $(\mu ^6_3Li)^{2+},~(\mu ^7_3Li)^{2+}$, $(\mu ^9_4Be)^{3+},~(\mu
^{10}_4Be)^{3+}$, $(\mu ^{10}_5B)^{4+},~(\mu ^{11}_5B)^{4+}$. The contributions
of orders $\alpha^3\div\alpha^6$ to the vacuum polarization, nuclear structure
and recoil, relativistic effects are taken into account. Our numerical results
are consistent with previous calculations and improve them due to account of
new corrections. The obtained results can be used for the comparison with
future experimental data, and extraction more accurate values of nuclear charge
radii.


title:
Quantum charge pumping through resonant crossed Andreev reflection in
  superconducting hybrid junction of Silicene

abstract:
  We theoretically investigate the phenomena of adiabatic quantum charge
pumping through a normal-insulator-superconductor-insulator-normal (NISIN)
setup of silicene within the scattering matrix formalism. Assuming thin barrier
limit, we consider the strength of the two barriers ($\chi_{1}$ and $\chi_{2}$)
as the two pumping parameters in the adiabatic regime. Within this geometry, we
obtain crossed Andreev reflection (CAR) with probability unity in the
$\chi_{1}$-$\chi_{2}$ plane without concomitant transmission or elastic
cotunneling (CT). Tunability of the band gap at the Dirac point by applying an
external electric field perpendicular to the silicene sheet and variation of
the chemical potential at the normal silicene region, open up the possibility
of achieving perfect either CAR or transmission process through our setup. This
resonant behavior is periodic with the barrier strengths. We analyze the
behavior of the pumped charge through the NISIN structure as a function of the
pumping strength and angles of the incident electrons. We show that large
($Q\sim2e$) pumped charge can be obtained through our geometry when the pumping
contour encloses either the CAR or transmission resonance in the pumping
parameter space. We discuss possible experimental feasibility of our
theoretical predictions.


title: Covariant Quantum Gravity I: Covariant Hamiltonian Framework

abstract:
  The first part of the series formulates the Einstein-Cartan theory in the
covariant hamiltonian framework. The first section revises the general
multisymplectic approach and introduces the notion of the d-jet bundles. Since
the whole Standard Model Lagrangian (including gravity) can be written as the
functional of the forms, the structure of the d-jet bundles is more appropriate
for the covariant hamiltonian analysis than the standard jet bundle approach.
The definition of the local covariant Poisson bracket on the space of covariant
observables is recalled. The main goal of the work is to show that the gauge
group of the Einstein-Cartan theory is given by the semidirect product of the
local Lorentz group and the group of spacetime diffeomorphisms. Vanishing of
the integral generators of the gauge group is equivalent to equations of motion
of the Einstein-Cartan theory and the local constraints algebra is closed Lie
algebra.


title: Correlation based passive imaging with a white noise source

abstract:
  Passive imaging refers to problems where waves generated by unknown sources
are recorded and used to image the medium through which they travel. The
sources are typically modelled as a random variable and it is assumed that some
statistical information is available. In this paper we study the stochastic
wave equation $\partial_t^2 u - \Delta_g u = \chi W$, where $W$ is a random
variable with the white noise statistics on ${\mathbb R}^{1+n}$, $n \ge 3$,
$\chi$ is a smooth function vanishing for negative times and outside a compact
set in space, and $\Delta_g$ is the Laplace-Beltrami operator associated to a
smooth non-trapping Riemannian metric tensor $g$ on ${\mathbb R}^n$. The metric
tensor $g$ models the medium to be imaged, and we assume that it coincides with
the Euclidean metric outside a compact set. We consider the empirical
correlations on an open set $\mathcal X \subset {\mathbb R}^n$, $$ C_T(t_1,
x_1, t_2, x_2) = \frac 1 T \int_0^T u(t_1+s,x_1) u(t_2+s,x_2) ds, \quad
t_1,t_2>0,\ x_1,x_2\in \mathcal X, $$ for $T>0$. Supposing that $\chi$ is
non-zero on $\mathcal X$ and constant in time after $t > 1$, we show that in
the limit $T \to \infty$, the data $C_T$ becomes statistically stable, that is,
independent of the realization of $W$. Our main result is that, with
probability one, this limit determines the Riemannian manifold $({\mathbb
R}^n,g)$ up to an isometry. To our knowledge, this is the first result showing
that a medium can be determined in a passive imaging setting, without assuming
a separation of scales.


title:
Thermal conductivity of the side ledge in aluminium electrolysis cells:
  compounds as a function of temperature and grain size

abstract:
  In aluminium electrolysis cells, a ledge of frozen electrolyte is formed,
attached to the sides of the cell. The control of the side ledge thickness is
essential in ensuring a reasonable lifetime for the cells. Numerical modelling
of the side ledge thickness requires an accurate knowledge of the thermal
transport properties as a function of temperature. Unfortunately, there is a
considerable lack of experimental data for the large majority of the phases
constituting the side ledge. The aim of this work is to provide, for each phase
possibly present in the side ledge, a formulation of the thermal conductivity
as a function of both temperature and size. To achieve this, we consider
reliable physical models linking the density of the lattice vibration energy
and the phonon mean free path to key parameters: the high temperature limit of
the Debye temperature and the Gruneisen constant. These model parameters can be
obtained by simultaneous fitting of (i) the heat capacity, (ii) the thermal
expansion tensor coefficient and (iii) the adiabatic elastic constants, on
relevant physical models. Where data is missing, first principles (ab initio)
calculations are used to determine directly the model parameters. For compounds
for which data is available, the model's predictions are found to be in very
good agreement with the reported experimental data.


title: An active, asynchronous companion to a redback millisecond pulsar

abstract:
  PSR\,J1723$-$2837 is a "redback" millisecond pulsar (MSP) with a low-mass
companion in a 14.8\,h orbit. The system's properties closely resemble those of
"transitional" MSPs that alternate between spin-down and accretion-powered
states. In this paper we report on long-term photometry of the 15.5\,mag
companion to the pulsar. We use our data to illustrate that the star
experiences sporadic activity, which we attribute to starspots. We also find
that the companion is not tidally locked and infer $P_{\rm s}/P_{\rm b}=
0.9974(7)$ for the ratio between the rotational and orbital periods. Finally,
we place constraints on various parameters, including the irradiation
efficiency and pulsar mass. We discuss similarities with other redback MSPs and
conclude that starspots may provide the most likely explanation for the often
seen irregular and asymmetric optical lightcurves.


title: On the Activation of Quantum Nonlocality

abstract:
  We report on some quantum properties of physical systems, namely,
entanglement, nonlocality, $k$-copy nonlocality (superactivation of
nonlocality), hidden nonlocality (activation of nonlocality through local
filtering) and the activation of nonlocality through tensoring and local
filtering. The aim of this work is two-fold. First, we provide a review of the
numerical procedures that must be followed in order to calculate the
aforementioned properties, in particular, for any two-qubit system, and
reproduce the bounds for two-qudit Werner states. Second, we use such numerical
tools to calculate new bounds of these properties for two-qudit Isotropic
states and two-qubit Hirsch states.


title: Quantum interference in a macroscopic van der Waals conductor

abstract:
  Quantum corrections to charge transport can give rise to an oscillatory
magnetoconductance, typically observed in mesoscopic samples with a length
shorter than or comparable with the phase coherence length. Here, we report the
observation of magnetoconductance oscillations periodic in magnetic field with
an amplitude of the order of $e^2/h$ in macroscopic samples of Highly Oriented
Pyrolytic Graphite (HOPG). The observed effect emerges when all carriers are
confined to their lowest Landau levels. We argue that this quantum interference
phenomenon can be explained by invoking moir\'e superlattices with a discrete
distribution in periodicity. According to our results, when the magnetic length
$\ell_B$, the Fermi wave length $\lambda_F$ and the length scale of
fluctuations in local chemical potential are comparable in a layered conductor,
quantum corrections can be detected over centimetric length scales.


title:
Identifying Ultrahigh-Energy Cosmic-Ray Accelerators with Future
  Ultrahigh-Energy Neutrino Detectors

abstract:
  The detection of ultrahigh-energy (UHE) neutrino sources would contribute
significantly to solving the decades-old mystery of the origin of the
highest-energy cosmic rays. We investigate the ability of a future UHE neutrino
detector to identify the brightest neutrino point sources, by exploring the
parameter space of the total number of observed events and the angular
resolution of the detector. The favored parameter region can be translated to
requirements for the effective area, sky coverage and angular resolution of
future detectors, for a given source number density and evolution history.
Moreover, by studying the typical distance to sources that are expected to emit
more than one event for a given diffuse neutrino flux, we find that a
significant fraction of the identifiable UHE neutrino sources may be located in
the nearby Universe if the source number density is above $\sim10^{-6}\,\rm
Mpc^{-3}$. If sources are powerful and rare enough, as predicted in blazar
scenarios, they can first be detected at distant locations. Our result also
suggests that if UHE cosmic-ray accelerators are neither beamed nor transients,
it will be possible to associate the detected UHE neutrino sources with nearby
UHE cosmic-ray and gamma-ray sources, and that they may also be observed using
other messengers, including ones with limited horizons such as TeV gamma rays,
UHE gamma rays and cosmic rays. We find that for a $\gtrsim5\sigma$ detection
of UHE neutrino sources with a uniform density,
$n_s\sim{10}^{-7}-{10}^{-5}~{\rm Mpc}^{-3}$, at least $\sim100-1000$ events and
sub-degree angular resolution are needed, and the results depend on the source
evolution model.


title:
A Unified Statistical Framework for Single Cell and Bulk RNA Sequencing
  Data

abstract:
  Recent advances in technology have enabled the measurement of RNA levels for
individual cells. Compared to traditional tissue-level bulk RNA-seq data,
single cell sequencing yields valuable insights about gene expression profiles
for different cell types, which is potentially critical for understanding many
complex human diseases. However, developing quantitative tools for such data
remains challenging because of high levels of technical noise, especially the
"dropout" events. A "dropout" happens when the RNA for a gene fails to be
amplified prior to sequencing, producing a "false" zero in the observed data.
In this paper, we propose a Unified RNA-Sequencing Model (URSM) for both single
cell and bulk RNA-seq data, formulated as a hierarchical model. URSM borrows
the strength from both data sources and carefully models the dropouts in single
cell data, leading to a more accurate estimation of cell type specific gene
expression profile. In addition, URSM naturally provides inference on the
dropout entries in single cell data that need to be imputed for downstream
analyses, as well as the mixing proportions of different cell types in bulk
samples. We adopt an empirical Bayes approach, where parameters are estimated
using the EM algorithm and approximate inference is obtained by Gibbs sampling.
Simulation results illustrate that URSM outperforms existing approaches both in
correcting for dropouts in single cell data, as well as in deconvolving bulk
samples. We also demonstrate an application to gene expression data on fetal
brains, where our model successfully imputes the dropout genes and reveals cell
type specific expression patterns.


title:
Shallow water equations: Split-form, entropy stable, well-balanced, and
  positivity preserving numerical methods

abstract:
  For the first time, a general two-parameter family of entropy conservative
numerical fluxes for the shallow water equations is developed and investigated.
These are adapted to a varying bottom topography in a well-balanced way, i.e.
preserving the lake-at-rest steady state. Furthermore, these fluxes are used to
create entropy stable and well-balanced split-form semidiscretisations based on
general summation-by-parts (SBP) operators, including Gau{\ss} nodes. Moreover,
positivity preservation is ensured using the framework of Zhang and Shu
(Maximum-principle-satisfying and positivity-preserving high-order schemes for
conservation laws: survey and recent developments, 2011. In: Proceedings of the
Royal Society of London A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, The
Royal Society, vol 467, pp. 2752--2766). Therefore, the new two-parameter
family of entropy conservative fluxes is enhanced by dissipation operators and
investigated with respect to positivity preservation. Additionally, some known
entropy stable and positive numerical fluxes are compared. Furthermore, finite
volume subcells adapted to nodal SBP bases with diagonal mass matrix are used.
Finally, numerical tests of the proposed schemes are performed and some
conclusions are presented.


title:
An empirically grounded agent based model for modeling directs, conflict
  detection and resolution operations in Air Traffic Management

abstract:
  We present an agent based model of the Air Traffic Management socio-technical
complex system that aims at modeling the interactions between aircrafts and air
traffic controllers at a tactical level. The core of the model is given by the
conflict detection and resolution module and by the directs module. Directs are
flight shortcuts that are given by air controllers to speed up the passage of
an aircraft within a certain airspace and therefore to facilitate airline
operations. Conflicts resolution between flight trajectories can arise during
the en-route phase of each flight due to both not detailed flight trajectory
planning or unforeseen events that perturb the planned flight plan. Our model
performs a local conflict detection and resolution procedure. Once a flight
trajectory has been made conflict-free, the model searches for possible
improvements of the system efficiency by issuing directs. We give an example of
model calibration based on real data. We then provide an illustration of the
capability of our model in generating scenario simulations able to give
insights about the air traffic management system. We show that the calibrated
model is able to reproduce the existence of a geographical localization of air
traffic controllers' operations. Finally, we use the model to investigate the
relationship between directs and conflict resolutions (i) in the presence of
perfect forecast ability of controllers, and (ii) in the presence of some
degree of uncertainty in flight trajectory forecast.


title: Smoothings and Rational Double Point Adjacencies for Cusp Singularities

abstract:
  A cusp singularity is a surface singularity whose minimal resolution is a
cycle of smooth rational curves meeting transversely. Cusp singularities come
in naturally dual pairs. Looijenga proved in 1981 that if a cusp singularity is
smoothable, the minimal resolution of the dual cusp is the anticanonical
divisor of some smooth rational surface. In 1983, the second author and Miranda
gave a criterion for smoothability of a cusp singularity, in terms of the
existence of a K-trivial semistable model for the central fiber of such a
smoothing. We study these "Type III degenerations" of rational surfaces with an
anticanonical divisor--their deformations, birational geometry, and monodromy.
Looijenga's original paper also gave a description of the rational double point
configurations to which a cusp singularity deforms, but only in the case where
the resolution of the dual cusp has cycle length 5 or less. We generalize this
classification to an arbitrary cusp singularity, giving an explicit
construction of a semistable simultaneous resolution of such an adjacency. The
main tools of the proof are (1) formulas for the monodromy of a Type III
degeneration, (2) a construction via surgeries on integral-affine surfaces of a
degeneration with prescribed monodromy, (3) surjectivity of the period map for
Type III central fibers, and (4) a theorem of Shepherd-Barron producing the
simultaneous contraction to the adjacency of the cusp singularity.


title: The geometry of constant mean curvature surfaces in $\mathbb{R}^3$

abstract:
  We derive intrinsic curvature and radius estimates for compact disks embedded
in $\mathbb{R}^3$ with nonzero constant mean curvature and apply these
estimates to study the global geometry of complete surfaces embedded in
$\mathbb{R}^3$ with nonzero constant mean curvature.


title: Minimal Lagrangian connections on compact surfaces

abstract:
  We introduce the notion of a minimal Lagrangian connection on the tangent
bundle of a manifold and classify all such connections in the case where the
manifold is a compact oriented surface of non-vanishing Euler characteristic.
Combining our classification with results of Labourie and Loftin, we conclude
that every properly convex projective surface arises from a unique minimal
Lagrangian connection.


title: Hilbert series and mixed branches of $T[SU(N)]$ theory

abstract:
  We consider mixed branches of 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ $T[SU(N)]$ theory. We
compute the Hilbert series of the Coulomb branch part of the mixed branch from
a restriction rule acting on the Hilbert series of the full Coulomb branch that
will truncate the magnetic charge summation only to the subset of BPS dressed
monopole operators that arise in the Coulomb branch sublocus where the mixed
branch stems. This restriction can be understood directly from the type IIB
brane picture by a relation between the magnetic charges of the monopoles and
brane position moduli. We also apply the restriction rule to the Higgs branch
part of a given mixed branch by exploiting 3d mirror symmetry. Both cases show
complete agreement with the results calculated by different methods.


title:
Connecting the dots across time: Reconstruction of single cell signaling
  trajectories using time-stamped data

abstract:
  Single cell responses are shaped by the geometry of signaling kinetic
trajectories carved in a multidimensional space spanned by signaling protein
abundances. It is however challenging to assay large number (>3) of signaling
species in live-cell imaging which makes it difficult to probe single cell
signaling kinetic trajectories in large dimensions. Flow and mass cytometry
techniques can measure a large number (4 - >40) of signaling species but are
unable to track single cells. Thus cytometry experiments provide detailed time
stamped snapshots of single cell signaling kinetics. Is it possible to use the
time stamped cytometry data to reconstruct single cell signaling trajectories?
Borrowing concepts of conserved and slow variables from non-equilibrium
statistical physics we develop an approach to reconstruct signaling
trajectories using snapshot data by creating new variables that remain
invariant or vary slowly during the signaling kinetics. We apply this approach
to reconstruct trajectories using snapshot data obtained from in silico
simulations and live-cell imaging measurements. The use of invariants and slow
variables to reconstruct trajectories provides a radically different way to
track object using snapshot data. The approach is likely to have implications
for solving matching problems in a wide range of disciplines.


title:
Regularity of minimal submanifolds and mean curvature flows with a
  common free boundary

abstract:
  Let $N$ be a smooth $(n+l)$-dimensional Riemannian manifold. We show that if
$V$ is an area-stationary union of three or more $C^{1,\mu}$ $n$-dimensional
submanifolds-with-boundary $M_k \subset N$ with a common boundary $\Gamma$,
then $\Gamma$ is smooth and each $M_k$ is smooth up to $\Gamma$ (real-analytic
in the case $N$ is real-analytic). This extends a previous result of the author
for codimension $l = 1$.
  We additionally show that if $\{V_t\}_{t \in (-1,1)}$ is a Brakke flow such
that each time-slice $V_t$ is a union of three or more $n$-dimensional
submanifolds-with-boundary $M_{k,t} \subset N$ with a common boundary
$\Gamma_t$ and with parabolic $C^{2+\mu}$ regularity in time-space, then
$\{\Gamma_t\}_{t \in (-1,1)}$ and $\{M_{k,t}\}_{t \in (-1,1)}$ are smooth
(second Gevrey with real-analytic time-slices in the case $N$ is
real-analytic).


title:
A Multi-Dimensional Central Limit Bound and its Application to the Euler
  Approximation of L\'evy SDEs

abstract:
  Rio gave a concise bound for the central limit theorem in the Vaserstein
distances, which is a ratio between some higher moments and some powers of the
variance. As a corollary, it gives an estimate for the normal approximation of
the small jumps of the L\'evy processes, and Fournier applied that to the Euler
approximation of L\'evy-driven stochastic differential equations. However both
results are restricted to the one-dimensional case. It will be shown in this
article that, following Davie's idea, one can generalise Rio's result to
multidimensional case, and the number of moments required is independent of the
dimension. Also two different approaches are developed to simulate
multidimensional L\'evy SDEs: one as a corollary to the central limit bound,
the other directly derived from the L\'evy-Khinchine formula.


title:
Interface Effect in QCD Phase Transitions via Dyson-Schwinger Equation
  Approach

abstract:
  With the chiral susceptibility criterion we obtain the phase diagram of
strong-interaction matter in terms of temperature and chemical potential in the
framework of Dyson-Schwinger equations (DSEs) of QCD.After calculating the
pressure and some other thermodynamic properties of the matter in the DSE
method, we get the phase diagram in terms of temperature and baryon number
density. We also obtain the interface tension and the interface entropy density
to describe the inhomogeneity of the two phases in the coexistence region of
the first order phase transition. After including the interface effect, we find
that the total entropy density of the system increases in both the
deconfinement (dynamical chiral symmetry restoration) and the hadronization
(dynamical chiral symmetry breaking) processes of the first order phase
transitions and thus solve the entropy puzzle in the hadronization process.


title:
One-Class SVM with Privileged Information and its Application to Malware
  Detection

abstract:
  A number of important applied problems in engineering, finance and medicine
can be formulated as a problem of anomaly detection. A classical approach to
the problem is to describe a normal state using a one-class support vector
machine. Then to detect anomalies we quantify a distance from a new observation
to the constructed description of the normal class. In this paper we present a
new approach to the one-class classification. We formulate a new problem
statement and a corresponding algorithm that allow taking into account a
privileged information during the training phase. We evaluate performance of
the proposed approach using a synthetic dataset, as well as the publicly
available Microsoft Malware Classification Challenge dataset.


title:
Dimension reduction for the micromagnetic energy functional on curved
  thin films

abstract:
  Recently a significant interest in ferromagnetic curved thin films has
appeared. In particular, thin spherical shells are currently of great interest
due to their capability to support skyrmion solutions which can be stabilized
by curvature effects only, in contrast to the planar case where the
Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction is required. This paper aims to a
$\Gamma$-asymptotic analysis of the micromagnetic energy functional, when the
shell is generated, like in the case of a sphere, by a bounded, convex and
smooth surface.

categories: math.AP cond-mat.mes-hall cond-mat.mtrl-sci math-ph math.MP


title:
From the generalized reflection law to the realization of perfect
  anomalous reflectors

abstract:
  The use of the generalized Snell's law opens wide possibilities for the
manipulation of transmitted and reflected wavefronts. However, known structures
designed to shape reflection wave fronts suffer from significant parasitic
reflections in undesired directions: In fact, the desired field distributions
do not satisfy Maxwell's equations if the boundary conditions are specified in
accordance with the generalized Snell's law. In this work, we explore the
limitations of the existing solutions for the design of passive planar
reflectors and demonstrate that strongly non-local response is required for
perfect performance. Ideal reflective surfaces capable of steering the energy
into any desired direction have to localize and carry energy along the
inhomogeneous reflective surface. A new paradigm for the design of perfect
reflectors based on energy surface channeling is introduced. We realize and
experimentally verify a theoretically perfect design of an anomalously
reflective surface using an array of rectangular metal patches backed by a
metallic plate. This conceptually new mechanism for wavefront manipulation
allows the design of thin perfect reflectors, offering a versatile design
method applicable to other scenarios such as focusing reflectors or surface
wave manipulations, extendible to other frequencies.


title: Viewport-Adaptive Navigable 360-Degree Video Delivery

abstract:
  The delivery and display of 360-degree videos on Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs)
presents many technical challenges. 360-degree videos are ultra high resolution
spherical videos, which contain an omnidirectional view of the scene. However
only a portion of this scene is displayed on the HMD. Moreover, HMD need to
respond in 10 ms to head movements, which prevents the server to send only the
displayed video part based on client feedback. To reduce the bandwidth waste,
while still providing an immersive experience, a viewport-adaptive 360-degree
video streaming system is proposed. The server prepares multiple video
representations, which differ not only by their bit-rate, but also by the
qualities of different scene regions. The client chooses a representation for
the next segment such that its bit-rate fits the available throughput and a
full quality region matches its viewing. We investigate the impact of various
spherical-to-plane projections and quality arrangements on the video quality
displayed to the user, showing that the cube map layout offers the best quality
for the given bit-rate budget. An evaluation with a dataset of users navigating
360-degree videos demonstrates that segments need to be short enough to enable
frequent view switches.


title:
A Compressed Sampling and Dictionary Learning Framework for WDM-Based
  Distributed Fiber Sensing

abstract:
  We propose a compressed sampling and dictionary learning framework for
fiber-optic sensing using wavelength-tunable lasers. A redundant dictionary is
generated from a model for the reflected sensor signal. Imperfect prior
knowledge is considered in terms of uncertain local and global parameters. To
estimate a sparse representation and the dictionary parameters, we present an
alternating minimization algorithm that is equipped with a pre-processing
routine to handle dictionary coherence. The support of the obtained sparse
signal indicates the reflection delays, which can be used to measure
impairments along the sensing fiber. The performance is evaluated by
simulations and experimental data for a fiber sensor system with common core
architecture.


title:
A test field for Gaia. Radial velocity catalogue of stars in the South
  Ecliptic Pole

abstract:
  Gaia is a space mission currently measuring the five astrometric parameters
as well as spectrophotometry of at least 1 billion stars to G = 20.7 mag with
unprecedented precision. The sixth parameter in phase space (radial velocity)
is also measured thanks to medium-resolution spectroscopy being obtained for
the 150 million brightest stars. During the commissioning phase, two fields,
one around each ecliptic pole, have been repeatedly observed to assess and to
improve the overall satellite performances as well as the associated reduction
and analysis software. A ground-based photometric and spectroscopic survey was
therefore initiated in 2007, and is still running in order to gather as much
information as possible about the stars in these fields. This work is of
particular interest to the validation of the Radial Velocity Spectrometer (RVS)
outputs. The paper presents the radial velocity measurements performed for the
Southern targets in the 12 - 17 R magnitude range on high- to mid-resolution
spectra obtained with the GIRAFFE and UVES spectrographs.


title:
Derivation of matrix product states for the Heisenberg spin chain with
  open boundary conditions

abstract:
  Using the algebraic Bethe ansatz, we derive a matrix product representation
of the exact Bethe-ansatz states of the six-vertex Heisenberg chain (either XXX
or XXZ and spin-$\frac{1}{2}$) with open boundary conditions. In this
representation, the components of the Bethe eigenstates are expressed as traces
of products of matrices which act on a tensor product of auxiliary spaces. As
compared to the matrix product states of the same Heisenberg chain but with
periodic boundary conditions, the dimension of the exact auxiliary matrices is
enlarged as if the conserved number of spin-flips considered would have been
doubled. This result is generic for any non-nested integrable model, as is
clear from our derivation and we further show by providing an additional
example of the same matrix product state construction for a well known model of
a gas of interacting bosons. Counterintuitively, the matrices do not depend on
the spatial coordinate despite the open boundaries and thus suggest generic
ways of exploiting (emergent) translational invariance both for finite size and
in the thermodynamic limit.

categories: quant-ph cond-mat.stat-mech math-ph math.MP


title: Universal bound on the efficiency of molecular motors

abstract:
  The thermodynamic uncertainty relation provides an inequality relating any
mean current, the associated dispersion and the entropy production rate for
arbitrary non-equilibrium steady states. Applying it here to a general model of
a molecular motor running against an external force or torque, we show that the
thermodynamic efficiency of such motors is universally bounded by an expression
involving only experimentally accessible quantities. For motors pulling cargo
through a viscous fluid, a universal bound for the corresponding Stokes
efficiency follows as a variant. A similar result holds if mechanical force is
used to synthesize molecules of high chemical potential. Crucially, no
knowledge of the detailed underlying mechano-chemical mechanism is required for
applying these bounds.


title:
Tiny-Shaped Particles Developing a Mono Layer Shape Dealing with
  Localized Gravity and Levity at the Solution Surface

abstract:
  Tiny-shaped particles are the building blocks for bigger-shaped particle. In
solution-based process or method, atoms, on dissociation from the precursor,
amalgamate at an electronically flat solution surface. Under their
re-crystallized state, the amalgamated atoms at the solution surface form the
monolayer assembly. Under the supply of nanoenergy packets, monolayer assembly
converts into the triangular shape tiny particles. Due to the formation of
concave meniscus, such tiny particles when just enter the electronically
decreasing level solution surface, atoms of arrays convert into the structures
of smooth elements. Triangular shape tiny particles assemble to nucleate a mono
layer shape. Monolayer and mono layer give different meanings here. To extend
the mono layer shape, structures of smooth elements in later coalesced
tiny-shaped particles adhere adjacently. At an electronically flat solution
surface, atoms bind in the shapes of supplied nanoenergy packets. A block of
connected triangular shape tiny particles gets developed under the bipolar mode
of the pulse. On leaving electronically flat solution surface, the block of
connected triangular shape tiny particles dismantles into two equal tiny-shaped
particles. At an electronically decreasing level solution surface, forces of
immersing format elongate the atoms. In the elongation, array of atoms converts
into the structure of smooth element. Travelling photons along the air-solution
interface further flatten structures of smooth elements. On assembling the
tiny-shaped particles and adjacently adhering structures of smooth elements
develop a mono layer shape. In upper shaped mono layer, a force of gravity
becomes greater than the force of levity. Opposite is the case in lower shaped
mono layer. The process of adhering two mono layers completes in a few
microseconds. Processing the devices in selective size and ...


title:
On the number of limit cycles for a class of discontinuous quadratic
  differential systems

abstract:
  The present paper is devoted to the study of the maximum number of limit
cycles bifurcated from the periodic orbits of the quadratic isochronous center
$\dot{x}=-y+\frac{16}{3}x^{2}-\frac{4}{3}y^{2},\dot{y}=x+\frac{8}{3}xy$ by the
averaging method of first order, when it is perturbed inside a class of
discontinuous quadratic polynomial differential systems. The \emph{Chebyshev
criterion} is used to show that this maximum number is 5 and can be realizable.
The result and that in paper \cite{LC} completely answer the questions left in
the paper \cite{LM}.


title:
Towards Evidence-Based Ontology for Supporting Systematic Literature
  Review

abstract:
  [Background]: Systematic Literature Review (SLR) has become an important
software engineering research method but costs tremendous efforts. [Aim]: This
paper proposes an approach to leverage on empirically evolved ontology to
support automating key SLR activities. [Method]: First, we propose an ontology,
SLRONT, built on SLR experiences and best practices as a groundwork to capture
common terminologies and their relationships during SLR processes; second, we
present an extended version of SLRONT, the COSONT and instantiate it with the
knowledge and concepts extracted from structured abstracts. Case studies
illustrate the details of applying it for supporting SLR steps. [Results]:
Results show that through using COSONT, we acquire the same conclusion compared
with sheer manual works, but the efforts involved is significantly reduced.
[Conclusions]: The approach of using ontology could effectively and efficiently
support the conducting of systematic literature review.


title: Energy-based Modeling of AC Motors

abstract:
  We propose an approach to modeling of AC motors entirely based on analytical
mechanics. Symmetry and connection constraints are moreover incorporated in the
energy function from which the models are derived. The approach is especially
suited to handle magnetic saturation, but also directly recovers the standard
unsaturated models of the literature. The theory is illustrated by some
experimental data.


title: Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with Wilson fermions

abstract:
  We present a lattice study of a Nambu Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model using Wilson
fermions. Four fermion interactions are a natural part of several extensions of
the Standard Model, appearing as a low energy description of a more fundamental
theory. In models of dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking they are used to
endow the Standard Model fermions with masses. In infrared conformal models
these interaction, when sufficiently strong, can alter the dynamics of the
fixed point, turning the theory into a (near) conformal model with desirable
features for model building. As a first step toward the nonperturbative study
of these models, we study the phase space of the ungauged NJL model.


title:
Magnetically Dominated Parallel Interstellar Filaments at the Infrared
  Dark Cloud G14.225-0.506

abstract:
  The G14.225-0.506 infrared dark cloud (IRDC G14.2) displays a remarkable
complex of parallel dense molecular filaments projected on the plane of the
sky. Previous dust emission and molecular-line studies have speculated whether
magnetic fields could have played an important role in the formation of such
long-shaped structures, which are hosts to numerous young stellar sources. In
this work we have conducted a vast polarimetric survey at optical and
near-infrared wavelengths in order to study the morphology of magnetic field
lines in IRDC G14.2 through the observation of background stars. The
orientation of interstellar polarization, which traces magnetic field lines, is
perpendicular to most of the filamentary features within the cloud.
Additionally, the larger-scale molecular cloud as a whole exhibits an elongated
shape also perpendicular to magnetic fields. Estimates of magnetic field
strengths indicate values in the range $320 - 550\,\mu$G, which allows
sub-alfv\'enic conditions, but does not prevent the gravitational collapse of
hub-filament structures, which in general are close to the critical state.
These characteristics suggest that magnetic fields played the main role in
regulating the collapse from large to small scales, leading to the formation of
series of parallel elongated structures. The morphology is also consistent with
numerical simulations that show how gravitational instabilities develop under
strong magnetic fields. Finally, the results corroborate the hypothesis that a
strong support from internal magnetic fields might explain why the cloud seems
to be contracting on a time scale 2-3 times larger than what is expected from a
free-fall collapse.


title:
A proof of Furstenberg's conjecture on the intersections of $\times p$
  and $\times q$-invariant sets

abstract:
  We prove the following conjecture of Furstenberg (1969): if $A,B\subset
[0,1]$ are closed and invariant under $\times p \mod 1$ and $\times q \mod 1$,
respectively, and if $\log p/\log q\notin \mathbb{Q}$, then for all real
numbers $u$ and $v$, $$\dim_{\rm H}(uA+v)\cap B\le \max\{0,\dim_{\rm
H}A+\dim_{\rm H}B-1\}.$$ We obtain this result as a consequence of our study on
the intersections of incommensurable self-similar sets on $\mathbb{R}$. Our
methods also allow us to give upper bounds for dimensions of arbitrary slices
of planar self-similar sets satisfying SSC and certain natural irreducible
conditions.


title: Some generalizations of second submodules

abstract:
  In this paper, we will introduce two generalizations of second submodules of
a module over a commutative ring and explore some basic properties of these
classes of modules.


title: Modelling glueballs

abstract:
  Glueballs are predicted in various theoretical approaches of QCD (most
notably lattice QCD), but their experimental verification is still missing. In
the low-energy sector some promising candidate for the scalar glueball exist,
and some (less clear) candidates for the tensor and pseudoscalar glueballs were
also proposed. Yet, for heavier gluonic states there is much work to be done
both from the experimental and theoretical points of view. In these
proceedings, we briefly review the current status of research of glueballs and
discuss future developments.


title:
ALICE Diffractive Detector Control System for RUN-II in the ALICE
  Experiment

abstract:
  This paper describes general characteristics of the deployment and
commissioned of the Detector Control System (DCS) AD0 for the second phase of
the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The AD0 detector is installed in the ALICE
experiment to provide a better selection of diffractive events.


title: The Blanchfield pairing of colored links

abstract:
  It is well known that the Blanchfield pairing of a knot can be expressed
using Seifert matrices. In this paper, we compute the Blanchfield pairing of a
colored link with non-zero Alexander polynomial. More precisely, we show that
the Blanchfield pairing of such a link can be written in terms of generalized
Seifert matrices which arise from the use of C-complexes.