cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Portrait shadow manipulation

Casually-taken portrait photographs often suffer from unflattering lighting and shadowing because of suboptimal conditions in the environment. Aesthetic qualities such as the position and softness of shadows and the lighting ratio between the bright and dark parts of the face are frequently determined by the constraints of the environment rather than by the photographer. Professionals address this issue by adding light shaping tools such as scrims, bounce cards, and flashes. In this paper, we present a computational approach that gives casual photographers some of this control, thereby allowing poorly-lit portraits to be relit post-capture in a realistic and easily-controllable way. Our approach relies on a pair of neural networks---one to remove foreign shadows cast by external objects, and another to soften facial shadows cast by the features of the subject and to add a synthetic fill light to improve the lighting ratio. To train our first network we construct a dataset of real-world portraits wherein synthetic foreign shadows are rendered onto the face, and we show that our network learns to remove those unwanted shadows. To train our second network we use a dataset of Light Stage scans of human subjects to construct input/output pairs of input images harshly lit by a small light source, and variably softened and fill-lit output images of each face. We propose a way to explicitly encode facial symmetry and show that our dataset and training procedure enable the model to generalize to images taken in the wild. Together, these networks enable the realistic and aesthetically pleasing enhancement of shadows and lights in real-world portrait images.1
Numerical methods for biomembranes: Conforming subdivision methods versus non-conforming PL methods

The Canham-Helfrich-Evans models of biomembranes consist of a family of geometric constrained variational problems. In this article, we compare two classes of numerical methods for these variational problems based on piecewise linear (PL) and subdivision surfaces (SS). Since SS methods are based on spline approximation and can be viewed as higher order versions of PL methods, one may expect that the only difference between the two methods is in the accuracy order. In this paper, we prove that a numerical method based on minimizing any one of the `PL Willmore energies' proposed in the literature would fail to converge to a solution of the continuous problem, whereas a method based on minimization of the bona fide Willmore energy, well-defined for SS but not PL surfaces, succeeds. Motivated by this analysis, we propose also a regularization method for the PL method based on techniques from conformal geometry. We address a number of implementation issues crucial for the efficiency of our solver. A software package called Wmincon accompanies this article, provides parallel implementations of all the relevant geometric functionals. When combined with a standard constrained optimization solver, the geometric variational problems can then be solved numerically. To this end, we realize that some of the available optimization algorithms/solvers are capable of preserving symmetry, while others manage to break symmetry; we explore the consequences of this observation.
Modeling and Experimental Validation of a Fractal Tetrahedron UAS Assembly

This paper presents the foundation of a modular robotic system comprised of several novel modules in the shape of a tetrahedron. Four single-propeller submodules are assembled to create the Tetracopter, a tetrahedron-shaped quad-rotorcraft used as the elementary module of a modular flying system. This modular flying system is built by assembling the different elementary modules in a fractal shape. The fractal tetrahedron structure of the modular flying assembly grants the vehicle more rigidity than a conventional two-dimensional modular robotic flight system while maintaining the relative efficiency of a two-dimensional modular robotic flight system. A prototype of the Tetracopter has been modeled, fabricated, and successfully flight-tested by the Decision and Control Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The results of this research set the foundation for the development of Tetrahedron rotorcraft that can maintain controllable flight and assemble in flight to create a Fractal Tetrahedron Assembly.
Dispersion of waves in two and three-dimensional periodic media

We consider the propagation of acoustic time-harmonic waves in homogeneous media containing periodic lattices of spherical or cylindrical inclusions. It is assumed that the wavelength has the order...
Space-Time Conditional Autoregressive Modeling to Estimate Neighborhood-Level Risks for Dengue Fever in Cali, Colombia

Vector-borne diseases affect more than 1 billion people a year worldwide, causing more than 1 million deaths, and cost hundreds of billions of dollars in societal costs. Mosquitoes are the most common vectors responsible for transmitting a variety of arboviruses. Dengue fever (DENF) has been responsible for nearly 400 million infections annually. Dengue fever is primarily transmitted by female Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. Because both Aedes species are peri-domestic and container-breeding mosquitoes, dengue surveillance should begin at the local level-where a variety of local factors may increase the risk of transmission. Dengue has been endemic in Colombia for decades and is notably hyperendemic in the city of Cali. For this study, we use weekly cases of DENF in Cali, Colombia, from 2015 to 2016 and develop space-time conditional autoregressive models to quantify how DENF risk is influenced by socioeconomic, environmental, and accessibility risk factors, and lagged weather variables. Our models identify high-risk neighborhoods for DENF throughout Cali. Statistical inference is drawn under Bayesian paradigm using Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques. The results provide detailed insight about the spatial heterogeneity of DENF risk and the associated risk factors (such as weather, proximity to Aedes habitats, and socioeconomic classification) at a fine level, informing public health officials to motivate at-risk neighborhoods to take an active role in vector surveillance and control, and improving educational and surveillance resources throughout the city of Cali.
Dynamics of Spin-Stabilized Spacecraft During Deployment of Telescoping Appendages

The dynamics of a spin stabilized spacecraft with telescoping appendages are treated both analytically and numerically. Two types of telescoping appendages are considered: (a) where an end mass is mounted at the end of an (assumed) massless boom; and (b) where the appendage is assumed to consist of a uniformly distributed homogeneous mass throughout its length. For the telescoping system Eulerian equations of motion are developed. During all deployment sequences it is assumed that the transverse component of angular momentum is much smaller than the component along the major spin axis. Closed form analytical solutions for the time response of the transverse components of angular velocities are obtained when the spacecraft hub has a nearly spherical mass distribution. For the more general case, a series solution is obtained and this solution is limited by its radius of convergence. The comparison of the different approximate analytical methods with numerical integration results are studied and it is observed that the oscillatory nature of the responses of the transverse angular velocity components reduces rapidly with faster extension rates.
Kalman Filter Tracking on Parallel Architectures

Power density constraints are limiting the performance improvements of modern CPUs. To address this we have seen the introduction of lower-power, multi-core processors such as GPGPU, ARM and Intel MIC. In order to achieve the theoretical performance gains of these processors, it will be necessary to parallelize algorithms to exploit larger numbers of lightweight cores and specialized functions like large vector units. Track finding and fitting is one of the most computationally challenging problems for event reconstruction in particle physics. At the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), for example, this will be by far the dominant problem. The need for greater parallelism has driven investigations of very different track finding techniques such as Cellular Automata or Hough Transforms. The most common track finding techniques in use today, however, are those based on a Kalman filter approach. Significant experience has been accumulated with these techniques on real tracking detector systems, both in the trigger and offline. They are known to provide high physics performance, are robust, and are in use today at the LHC. Given the utility of the Kalman filter in track finding, we have begun to port these algorithms to parallel architectures, namely Intel Xeon and Xeon Phi. We report here on our progress towards an end-to-end track reconstruction algorithm fully exploiting vectorization and parallelization techniques in a simplified experimental environment.
DNSS2: Improved ab initio protein secondary structure prediction using advanced deep learning architectures

Accurate prediction of protein secondary structure (alpha-helix, beta-strand and coil) is a crucial step for protein inter-residue contact prediction and ab initio tertiary structure prediction. In a previous study, we developed a deep belief network-based protein secondary structure method (DNSS1) and successfully advanced the prediction accuracy beyond 80%. In this work, we developed multiple advanced deep learning architectures (DNSS2) to further improve secondary structure prediction. The major improvements over the DNSS1 method include (a) designing and integrating six advanced one-dimensional deep convolutional/recurrent/residual/memory/fractal/inception networks to predict 3-state and 8-state secondary structure, and (b) using more sensitive profile features inferred from Hidden Markov model (HMM) and multiple sequence alignment (MSA). Most of the deep learning architectures are novel for protein secondary structure prediction. DNSS2 was systematically benchmarked on independent test data sets with eight state-of-art tools and consistently ranked as one of the best methods. Particularly, DNSS2 was tested on the protein targets of 2018 CASP13 experiment and achieved the Q3 score of 81.62%, SOV score of 72.19%, and Q8 score of 73.28%. DNSS2 is freely available at: https://github.com/multicom-toolbox/DNSS2.
Toxoplasma gondii AP2XII-2 Contributes to Proper Progression through S-Phase of the Cell Cycle.

ABSTRACT Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that causes lifelong chronic infection that can reactivate in immunocompromised individuals. Upon infection, the replicative stage (tachyzoite) converts into a latent tissue cyst stage (bradyzoite). Like other apicomplexans, T. gondii possesses an extensive lineage of proteins called ApiAP2s that contain DNA-binding domains first characterized in plants. The function of most ApiAP2s is unknown. We previously found that AP2IX-4 is a cell cycle-regulated ApiAP2 expressed only in dividing parasites as a putative transcriptional repressor. In this study, we purified proteins interacting with AP2IX-4, finding it to be a component of the recently characterized microrchidia (MORC) transcriptional repressor complex. We further analyzed AP2XII-2, another cell cycle-regulated factor that associates with AP2IX-4. We monitored parallel expression of AP2IX-4 and AP2XII-2 proteins in tachyzoites, detecting peak expression during S/M phase. Unlike AP2IX-4, which is dispensable in tachyzoites, loss of AP2XII-2 resulted in a slowed tachyzoite growth due to a delay in S-phase progression. We also found that AP2XII-2 depletion increased the frequency of bradyzoite differentiation in vitro. These results suggest that multiple AP2 factors collaborate to ensure proper cell cycle progression and tissue cyst formation in T. gondii. IMPORTANCEToxoplasma gondii is a single-celled parasite that persists in its host by converting into a latent cyst stage. This work describes a new transcriptional factor called AP2XII-2 that plays a role in properly maintaining the growth rate of replicating parasites, which contributes to signals required for development into its dormant stage. Without AP2XII-2, Toxoplasma parasites experience a delay in their cell cycle that increases the frequency of latent cyst formation. In addition, we found that AP2XII-2 operates in a multisubunit complex with other AP2 factors and chromatin remodeling machinery that represses gene expression. These findings add to our understanding of how Toxoplasma parasites balance replication and dormancy, revealing novel points of potential therapeutic intervention to disrupt this clinically relevant process.
Organizational structure, climate, and collaboration between juvenile justice and community mental health centers: implications for evidence-based practice implementation for adolescent substance use disorder treatment

Substance use disorders are prevalent among youth involved with the criminal justice system, however, evidence-based substance use disorder treatment is often unavailable to this population. The goal of this study was to identify barriers to effective implementation of evidence-based practices among juvenile justice and community mental health organizations through the lens of an adopter-based innovation model. In this mixed-methods study, qualitative interviews were conducted with n = 15 juvenile justice staff and n = 14 community mental health staff from two counties implementing substance use services for justice involved youth. In addition, n = 28 juvenile justice staff and n = 85 community mental health center staff also completed quantitative measures of organizational effectiveness including the implementation leadership scale (ILS), organizational readiness for change (ORIC), and the implementation climate scale (ICS). Organizationally, staff from community mental health centers reported more “red tape” and formalized procedures around daily processes, while many juvenile justice staff reported a high degree of autonomy. Community mental health respondents also reported broad concern about their capacity for providing new interventions. Staff across the two different organizations expressed support for evidence-based practices, agreed with the importance of treating substance use disorders in this population, and were enthusiastic about implementing the interventions. While both community mental health and juvenile justice staff express commitment to implementing evidence-based practices, systems-level changes are needed to increase capacity for providing evidence-based services.
Parallel rescoring with Transformer for Streaming On-Device speech recognition

Recent advances of end-to-end models have outperformed conventional models through employing a two-pass model. The two-pass model provides better speed-quality trade-offs for on-device speech recognition, where a 1st-pass model generates hypotheses in a streaming fashion, and a 2nd-pass model re-scores the hypotheses with full audio sequence context. The 2nd-pass model plays a key role in the quality improvement of the end-to-end model to surpass the conventional model. One main challenge of the two-pass model is the computation latency introduced by the 2nd-pass model. Specifically, the original design of the two-pass model uses LSTMs for the 2nd-pass model, which are subject to long latency as they are constrained by the recurrent nature and have to run inference sequentially. In this work we explore replacing the LSTM layers in the 2nd-pass rescorer with Transformer layers, which can process the entire hypothesis sequences in parallel and can therefore utilize the on-device computation resources more efficiently. Compared with an LSTM-based baseline, our proposed Transformer rescorer achieves more than 50% latency reduction with quality improvement.
Streaming instability in turbulent protoplanetary disks

The streaming instability for solid particles in protoplanetary disks is re-examined assuming the familiar alpha ($\alpha$) model for isotropic turbulence. Turbulence always reduces the growth rates of the streaming instability relative to values calculated for globally laminar disks. While for small values of the turbulence parameter, $\alpha < 10^{-5}$, the wavelengths of the fastest-growing disturbances are small fractions of the local gas vertical scale height $H$, we find that for moderate values of the turbulence parameter, i.e., $\alpha \sim 10^{-5}-10^{-3}$, the lengthscales of maximally growing disturbances shift toward larger scales, approaching $H$. At these moderate turbulent intensities and for local particle to gas mass density ratios $\epsilon < 0.5$, the vertical scales of the most unstable modes begin to exceed the corresponding radial scales so that the instability appears in the form of vertically oriented sheets extending well beyond the particle scale height. We find that for hydrodynamical turbulent disk models reported in the literature, with $\alpha = 4\times 10^{-5} - 5\times 10^{-4}$, together with state of the art global evolution models of particle growth, the streaming instability is predicted to be viable within a narrow triangular patch of $\alpha$--$\tau_s$ parameter space centered on Stokes numbers, $\tau_s \sim 0.01$ and $\alpha \sim 4\times 10^{-5}$ and, further, exhibits growth rates on the order of several hundred to thousands of orbit times for disks with 1 percent ($Z= 0.01$) cosmic solids abundance or metallicity. Our results are consistent with, and place in context, published numerical studies of streaming instabilities.
Tight last-iterate convergence rates for no-regret learning in multi-player games

We study the question of obtaining last-iterate convergence rates for no-regret learning algorithms in multi-player games. We show that the optimistic gradient (OG) algorithm with a constant step-size, which is no-regret, achieves a last-iterate rate of $O(1/\sqrt{T})$ with respect to the gap function in smooth monotone games. This result addresses a question of Mertikopoulos & Zhou (2018), who asked whether extra-gradient approaches (such as OG) can be applied to achieve improved guarantees in the multi-agent learning setting. The proof of our upper bound uses a new technique centered around an adaptive choice of potential function at each iteration. We also show that the $O(1/\sqrt{T})$ rate is tight for all $p$-SCLI algorithms, which includes OG as a special case. As a byproduct of our lower bound analysis we additionally present a proof of a conjecture of Arjevani et al. (2015) which is more direct than previous approaches.
Coding and system design for quantize-map-and-forward relaying

In this paper we develop a low-complexity coding scheme and system design framework for the half duplex relay channel based on the Quantize-Map-and-Forward (QMF) relaying scheme. The proposed framework allows linear complexity operations at all network terminals. We propose the use of binary LDPC codes for encoding at the source and LDGM codes for mapping at the relay. We express joint decoding at the destination as a belief propagation algorithm over a factor graph. This graph has the LDPC and LDGM codes as subgraphs connected via probabilistic constraints that model the QMF relay operations. We show that this coding framework extends naturally to the high SNR regime using bit interleaved coded modulation (BICM). We develop density evolution analysis tools for this factor graph and demonstrate the design of practical codes for the half-duplex relay channel that perform within 1dB of information theoretic QMF threshold.
Translucent windows: how uncertainty in competitive interactions impacts detection of community pattern

Traits can provide a window into the mechanisms that maintain coexistence among competing species. Recent theory suggests that competitive interactions will lead to groups, or clusters, of species with similar traits. However, theoretical predictions typically assume complete knowledge of the map between competition and measured traits. These assumptions limit the plausible application of these patterns for inferring competitive interactions in nature. Here, we relax these restrictions and find that the clustering pattern is robust to contributions of unknown or unobserved niche axes. However, it may not be visible unless measured traits are close proxies for niche strategies. We conclude that patterns along single niche axes may reveal properties of interspecific competition in nature, but detecting these patterns requires natural history expertise firmly tying traits to niches.
Capillary-driven binding of thin triangular prisms at fluid interfaces

We observe capillary-driven binding between thin, equilateral triangular prisms at a flat air–water interface. The edge length of the equilateral triangle face is 120 μm, and the thickness of the prism is varied between 2 and 20 μm. For thickness to length (T/L) ratios of 1/10 or less, pairs of triangles preferentially bind in either tip-to-tip or tip-to-midpoint edge configurations; for pairs of prisms of thickness T/L = 1/5, the tip of one triangle binds to any position along the other triangle's edge. The distinct binding configurations for small T/L ratios result from physical bowing of the prisms, a property that arises during their fabrication. When bowed prisms are placed at the air–water interface, two distinct polarity states arise: prisms either sit with their center of mass above or below the interface. The interface pins to the edge of the prism's concave face, resulting in an interface profile that is similar to that of a capillary hexapole, but with important deviations close to the prism that enable directed binding. We present corresponding theoretical and numerical analysis of the capillary interactions between these prisms and show how prism bowing and contact-line pinning yield a capillary hexapole-like interaction that results in the two sets of distinct, highly-directional binding events. Prisms of all T/L ratios self-assemble into space-spanning open networks; the results suggest design parameters for the fabrication of building blocks of ordered open structures such as the Kagome lattice.
Dead zones of classical habitability in stellar binary systems

Although habitability, defined as the general possibility of hosting life, is expected to occur under a broad range of conditions, the standard scenario to allow for habitable environments is often described through habitable zones (HZs). Previous work indicates that stellar binary systems typically possess S-type or P-type HZs, with the S-type HZs forming ring-type structures around the individual stars and P-type HZs forming similar structures around both stars, if considered a pair. However, depending on the stellar and orbital parameters of the system, typically, there are also regions within the systems outside of the HZs, referred to as dead zones (DZs). In this study, we will convey quantitative information on the width and location of DZs for various systems. The results will also depend on the definition of the stellar HZs as those are informed by the planetary climate models.
Topology of superconductors beyond mean-field theory

This work presents a study of topological invariants for superconductors in the number-conserving setting. The authors show that their approximation predicts the value of a certain topological invariant for a large family of number-conserving models of spinless superconductors.
Upper-division student difficulties with separation of variables

Student difficulties with separation of variables in the context of upper-division electrostatics.
Landauer in the Age of Synthetic Biology: Energy Consumption and Information Processing in Biochemical Networks

A central goal of synthetic biology is to design sophisticated synthetic cellular circuits that can perform complex computations and information processing tasks in response to specific inputs. The tremendous advances in our ability to understand and manipulate cellular information processing networks raises several fundamental physics questions: How do the molecular components of cellular circuits exploit energy consumption to improve information processing? Can one utilize ideas from thermodynamics to improve the design of synthetic cellular circuits and modules? Here, we summarize recent theoretical work addressing these questions. Energy consumption in cellular circuits serves five basic purposes: (1) increasing specificity, (2) manipulating dynamics, (3) reducing variability, (4) amplifying signal, and (5) erasing memory. We demonstrate these ideas using several simple examples and discuss the implications of these theoretical ideas for the emerging field of synthetic biology. We conclude by discussing how it may be possible to overcome these limitations using “post-translational” synthetic biology that exploits reversible protein modification.
Z′ INVESTIGATIONS AT FUTURE LEPTON COLLIDERS

In this talk I summarize the capability of future lepton colliders to indirectly discover a new Z′ and to determine its couplings to the fermions of the Standard Model. The physics associated with sitting on the Z′-pole is also briefly discussed. This analysis is based on the results presented in the Snowmass 1996 New Gauge Boson Working Group report.
Strong oracle optimality of folded concave penalized estimation

Folded concave penalization methods have been shown to enjoy the strong oracle property for high-dimensional sparse estimation. However, a folded concave penalization problem usually has multiple local solutions and the oracle property is established only for one of the unknown local solutions. A challenging fundamental issue still remains that it is not clear whether the local optimum computed by a given optimization algorithm possesses those nice theoretical properties. To close this important theoretical gap in over a decade, we provide a unified theory to show explicitly how to obtain the oracle solution via the local linear approximation algorithm. For a folded concave penalized estimation problem, we show that as long as the problem is localizable and the oracle estimator is well behaved, we can obtain the oracle estimator by using the one-step local linear approximation. In addition, once the oracle estimator is obtained, the local linear approximation algorithm converges, namely it produces the same estimator in the next iteration. The general theory is demonstrated by using four classical sparse estimation problems, i.e., sparse linear regression, sparse logistic regression, sparse precision matrix estimation and sparse quantile regression.
Sums of CR functions from competing CR structures

In this paper we characterize sums of CR functions from competing CR structures in two scenarios. In one scenario the structures are conjugate and we are adding to the theory of pluriharmonic boundary values. In the second scenario the structures are related by projective duality considerations. In both cases we provide explicit vector field-based characterizations for two-dimensional circular domains satisfying natural convexity conditions.
Multi-Label Transfer Learning for Multi-Relational Semantic Similarity

Multi-relational semantic similarity datasets define the semantic relations between two short texts in multiple ways, e.g., similarity, relatedness, and so on. Yet, all the systems to date designed to capture such relations target one relation at a time. We propose a multi-label transfer learning approach based on LSTM to make predictions for several relations simultaneously and aggregate the losses to update the parameters. This multi-label regression approach jointly learns the information provided by the multiple relations, rather than treating them as separate tasks. Not only does this approach outperform the single-task approach and the traditional multi-task learning approach, but it also achieves state-of-the-art performance on all but one relation of the Human Activity Phrase dataset.
Estimating Calabi-Yau hypersurface and triangulation counts with equation learners

We provide the first estimate of the number of fine, regular, star triangulations of the four-dimensional reflexive polytopes, as classified by Kreuzer and Skarke (KS). This provides an upper bound on the number of Calabi-Yau threefold hypersurfaces in toric varieties. The estimate is performed with deep learning, specifically the novel equation learner (EQL) architecture. We demonstrate that EQL networks accurately predict numbers of triangulations far beyond the h1,1 training region, allowing for reliable extrapolation. We estimate that number of triangulations in the KS dataset is 1010,505, dominated by the polytope with the highest h1,1 value.
Commensal observing with the Allen Telescope array: software command and control

The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is a Large-Number-Small-Diameter radio telescope array currently with 42 individual antennas and 5 independent back-end science systems (2 imaging FX correlators and 3 time domain beam formers) located at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory (HCRO). The goal of the ATA is to run multiple back-ends simultaneously, supporting multiple science projects commensally. The primary software control systems are based on a combination of Java, JRuby and Ruby on Rails. The primary control API is simplified to provide easy integration with new back-end systems while the lower layers of the software stack are handled by a master observing system. Scheduling observations for the ATA is based on finding a union between the science needs of multiple projects and automatically determining an efficient path to operating the various sub-components to meet those needs. When completed, the ATA is expected to be a world-class radio telescope, combining dedicated SETI projects with numerous radio astronomy science projects.
Additional Invariants and Statistical Equilibria for the 2D Euler Equations on a Spherical Domain

The role of the domain geometry for the statistical mechanics of 2D Euler flows is investigated. It is shown that for a spherical domain, there exists invariant subspaces in phase space which yield additional angular momentum, energy and enstrophy invariants. The microcanonical measure taking into account these invariants is built and a mean-field, Robert–Sommeria–Miller theory is developed in the simple case of the energy-enstrophy measure. The variational problem is solved analytically and a partial energy condensation is obtained. The thermodynamic properties of the system are also discussed.
The non-disjoint ontic states of the Grassmann ontological model, transformation contextuality, and the single qubit stabilizer subtheory

We show that it is possible to construct a preparation non-contextual ontological model that does not exhibit "transformation contextuality" for single qubits in the stabilizer subtheory. In particular, we consider the "blowtorch" map and show that it does not exhibit transformation contextuality under the Grassmann Wigner-Weyl-Moyal (WWM) qubit formalism. Furthermore, the transformation in this formalism can be fully expressed at order $\hbar^0$ and so does not qualify as a candidate quantum phenomenon. In particular, we find that the Grassmann WWM formalism at order $\hbar^0$ corresponds to an ontological model governed by an additional set of constraints arising from the relations defining the Grassmann algebra. Due to this additional set of constraints, the allowed probability distributions in this model do not form a single convex set when expressed in terms of disjoint ontic states and so cannot be mapped to models whose states form a single convex set over disjoint ontic states. However, expressing the Grassmann WWM ontological model in terms of non-disjoint ontic states corresponding to the monomials of the Grassmann algebra results in a single convex set. We further show that a recent result by Lillystone et al. that proves a broad class of preparation and measurement non-contextual ontological models must exhibit transformation contextuality lacks the generality to include the ontological model considered here; Lillystone et al.'s result is appropriately limited to ontological models whose states produce a single convex set when expressed in terms of disjoint ontic states. Therefore, we prove that for the qubit stabilizer subtheory to be captured by a preparation, transformation and measurement non-contextual ontological theory, it must be expressed in terms of non-disjoint ontic states, unlike the case for the odd-dimensional single-qudit stabilizer subtheory.
The Young L Dwarf 2MASS J11193254−1137466 Is a Planetary-mass Binary

We have discovered that the extremely red, low-gravity L7 dwarf 2MASS J11193254−1137466 is a 014 (3.6 au) binary using Keck laser guide star adaptive optics imaging. 2MASS J11193254−1137466 has previously been identified as a likely member of the TW Hydrae Association (TWA). Using our updated photometric distance and proper motion, a kinematic analysis based on the BANYAN II model gives an 82% probability of TWA membership. At TWA's 10 ± 3 Myr age and using hot-start evolutionary models, 2MASS J11193254−1137466AB is a pair of brown dwarfs, making it the lowest-mass binary discovered to date. We estimate an orbital period of years. One component is marginally brighter in K band but fainter in J band, making this a probable flux-reversal binary, the first discovered with such a young age. We also imaged the spectrally similar TWA L7 dwarf WISEA J114724.10−204021.3 with Keck and found no sign of binarity. Our evolutionary model-derived estimate for WISEA J114724.10−204021.3 is ≈230 K higher than for 2MASS J11193254−1137466AB, at odds with the spectral similarity of the two objects. This discrepancy suggests that WISEA J114724.10−204021.3 may actually be a tight binary with masses and temperatures very similar to 2MASS J11193254−1137466AB, or further supporting the idea that near-infrared spectra of young ultracool dwarfs are shaped by factors other than temperature and gravity. 2MASS J11193254−1137466AB will be an essential benchmark for testing evolutionary and atmospheric models in the young planetary-mass regime.
The halo occupation distribution of X-ray-bright active galactic nuclei: A comparison with luminous quasars

We perform halo occupation distribution (HOD) modeling of the projected two-point correlation function (2PCF) of high-redshift (z {approx} 1.2) X-ray-bright active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the XMM-COSMOS field measured by Allevato et al. The HOD parameterization is based on low-luminosity AGNs in cosmological simulations. At the median redshift of z {approx} 1.2, we derive a median mass of 1.02{sub -0.23}{sup +0.21} Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 13} h{sup -1} M{sub sun} for halos hosting central AGNs and an upper limit of {approx}10% on the AGN satellite fraction. Our modeling results indicate (at the 2.5{sigma} level) that X-ray AGNs reside in more massive halos compared to more bolometrically luminous, optically selected quasars at similar redshift. The modeling also yields constraints on the duty cycle of the X-ray AGN, and we find that at z {approx} 1.2 the average duration of the X-ray AGN phase is two orders of magnitude longer than that of the quasar phase. Our inferred mean occupation function of X-ray AGNs is similar to recent empirical measurements with a group catalog and suggests that AGN halo occupancy increases with increasing halo mass. We project the XMM-COSMOS 2PCF measurements to forecast the required survey parameters needed in future AGN clustering studies tomore » enable higher precision HOD constraints and determinations of key physical parameters like the satellite fraction and duty cycle. We find that N {sup 2}/A {approx} 5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 6} deg{sup -2} (with N the number of AGNs in a survey area of A deg{sup 2}) is sufficient to constrain the HOD parameters at the 10% level, which is easily achievable by upcoming and proposed X-ray surveys.« less
A path-integral approach to the problem of time

Abstract Quantum transition amplitudes are formulated for model systems with local internal time, using intuition from path integrals. The amplitudes are shown to be more regular near a turning point of internal time than could be expected based on existing canonical treatments. In particular, a successful transition through a turning point is provided in the model systems, together with a new definition of such a transition in general terms. Some of the results rely on a fruitful relation between the problem of time and general Gribov problems.
SATURN’S G AND D RINGS PROVIDE NEARLY COMPLETE MEASURED SCATTERING PHASE FUNCTIONS OF NEARBY DEBRIS DISKS

The appearance of debris disks around distant stars depends upon the scattering/phase function (SPF) of the material in the disk. However, characterizing the SPFs of these extrasolar debris disks is challenging because only a limited range of scattering angles are visible to Earth-based observers. By contrast, Saturn's tenuous rings can be observed over a much broader range of geometries, so their SPFs can be much better constrained. Since these rings are composed of small particles released from the surfaces of larger bodies, they are reasonable analogs to debris disks and so their SPFs can provide insights into the plausible scattering properties of debris disks. This work examines two of Saturn's dusty rings: the G ring (at 167,500 km from Saturn's center) and the D68 ringlet (at 67,600 km). Using data from the cameras on board the Cassini spacecraft, we are able to estimate the rings' brightnesses at scattering angles ranging from 170° to 05. We find that both of the rings exhibit extremely strong forward-scattering peaks, but for scattering angles above 60° their brightnesses are nearly constant. These SPFs can be well approximated by a linear combination of three Henyey–Greenstein functions, and are roughly consistent with the SPFs of irregular particles from laboratory measurements. Comparing these data to Fraunhofer and Mie models highlights several challenges involved in extracting information about particle compositions and size distributions from SPFs alone. The SPFs of these rings also indicate that the degree of forward scattering in debris disks may be greatly underestimated.
The Collisionless Magnetoviscous-thermal Instability

It is likely that nearly all central galactic massive and supermassive black holes are nonradiative: their accretion luminosities are orders of magnitude below what can be explained by efficient black hole accretion within their ambient environments. These objects, of which Sagittarius A* is the best-known example, are also dilute (mildly collisional to highly collisionless) and optically thin. In order for accretion to occur, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities must develop that not only transport angular momentum, but also gravitational energy generated through matter infall, outward. A class of new magnetohydrodynamical fluid instabilities—the magnetoviscous-thermal instability (MVTI)—was found to transport angular momentum and energy along magnetic field lines through large (fluid) viscosities and thermal conductivities. This paper describes the analog to the MVTI, the collisionless MVTI (CMVTI), that similarly transports energy and angular momentum outward, expected to be important in describing the flow properties of hot, dilute, and radiatively inefficient accretion flows around black holes. We construct a local equilibrium for MHD stability analysis in this differentially rotating disk. We then find and characterize specific instabilities expected to be important in describing their flow properties, and show their qualitative similarities to instabilities derived using the fluid formalism. We conclude with further work needed in modeling this class of accretion flow.
Gas-Rich Companions of Isolated Galaxies

We have used the VLA to search for gaseous remnants of the galaxy formation process around six extremely isolated galaxies. We found two distinct H I clouds around each of two galaxies in our sample (UGC 9762 and UGC 11124). These clouds are rotating and appear to have optical counterparts, strongly implying that they are typical dwarf galaxies. The companions are currently weakly interacting with the primary galaxy but look to be in stable orbits as they have dynamical friction timescales of 5–100 Gyr. In one case, (UGC 11124N), we see ongoing accretion of the companion onto the primary galaxy. The small mass ratio involved in this interaction means that the resulting merger will be a minor one. The companion does, however, contain enough gas that the merger will represent a significant infusion of fuel to drive future star formation in UGC 11124 while building up the mass of the disk.
Asymptotic Properties of Mass Spectrum in 't Hooft's Model of Mesons

We study 't Hooft's equation for bound states in two-dimensional multicolor QCD. We consider the case of quarks with equal masses. We derive asymptotic expansions for the spectrum of mesons in different regimes and study their properties.
Fractal Symmetric Phases of Matter

We study spin systems which exhibit symmetries that act on a fractal subset of sites, with fractal structures generated by linear cellular automata. In addition to the trivial symmetric paramagnet and spontaneously symmetry broken phases, we construct additional fractal symmetry protected topological (FSPT) phases via a decorated defect approach. Such phases have edges along which fractal symmetries are realized projectively, leading to a symmetry protected degeneracy along the edge. Isolated excitations above the ground state are symmetry protected fractons, which cannot be moved without breaking the symmetry. In 3D, our construction leads additionally to FSPT phases protected by higher form fractal symmetries and fracton topologically ordered phases enriched by the additional fractal symmetries.
From materials to systems: a multiscale analysis of nanomagnetic switching

With the increasing demand for low-power electronics, nanomagnetic devices have emerged as strong potential candidates to complement present day transistor technology. A variety of novel switching effects such as spin torque and giant spin Hall offer scalable ways to manipulate nanosized magnets. However, the low intrinsic energy cost of switching spins is often compromised by the energy consumed in the overhead circuitry in creating the necessary switching fields. Scaling brings in added concerns such as the ability to distinguish states (readability) and to write information without spontaneous backflips (reliability). A viable device must ultimately navigate a complex multi-dimensional material and design space defined by volume, energy budget, speed, and a target read–write–retention error. In this paper, we review the major challenges facing nanomagnetic devices and present a multiscale computational framework to explore possible innovations at different levels (material, device, or circuit), along with a holistic understanding of their overall energy delay–reliability trade-off.
Worldline path integrals for fermions with scalar, pseudoscalar and vector couplings

Abstract A systematic derivation is given of the worldline path integrals for the effective action of a multiplet of Dirac fermions interacting with general matrix-valued classical background scalar, pseudoscalar, and vector gauge fields. The first path integral involves worldline fermions with antiperiodic boundary conditions on the worldline loop and generates the real part of the one-loop (Euclidean) effective action. The second path integral involves worldline fermions with periodic boundary conditions and generates the imaginary part of the (Euclidean) effective action, i.e. the phase of the fermion functional determinant. Here we also introduce a new regularization for the phase of functional determinants resembling a heat-kernel regularization. Compared to the known special cases, our worldline Lagrangians have a number of new interaction terms; the validity of some of these terms is checked in perturbation theory. In particular, we obtain the leading order contribution (in the heavy mass expansion) to the Wess-Zumino-Witten term, which generates the chiral anomaly.
Hybrid Simulations of Particle Acceleration at Shocks

Abstract We present the results of large hybrid (kinetic ions – fluid electrons) simulations of particle acceleration at non-relativistic collisionless shocks. Ion acceleration efficiency and magnetic field amplification are investigated in detail as a function of shock inclination and strength, and compared with predictions of diffusive shock acceleration theory, for shocks with Mach number up to 100. Moreover, we discuss the relative importance of resonant and Bell's instability in the shock precursor, and show that diffusion in the self-generated turbulence can be effectively parametrized as Bohm diffusion in the amplified magnetic field.
Switching nano-device based on Rabi oscillations

Abstract We describe a switching device based on Rabi oscillations. The device consists of a well region separated from a free region by a potential barrier. The potential landscape is adjusted so that one bound state and one quasi level are present. By applying a microwave field with a driving frequency close to the separation between the two levels, a particle initially in the ground state can be activated to the quasi-level, and subsequently tunnel to the free region. The probability for tunneling in the free region exhibits a plateau structure, as the wave function is emitted by bursts after each Rabi oscillation. The leakage current can then be controlled by varying the amplitude of the external field, the barrier height/width, and the frequency mismatch.
Nonparametric ridge estimation

We study the problem of estimating the ridges of a density function. Ridge estimation is an extension of mode finding and is useful for understanding the structure of a density. It can also be used to find hidden structure in point cloud data. We show that, under mild regularity conditions, the ridges of the kernel density estimator consistently estimate the ridges of the true density. When the data are noisy measurements of a manifold, we show that the ridges are close and topologically similar to the hidden manifold. To find the estimated ridges in practice, we adapt the modified mean-shift algorithm proposed by Ozertem and Erdogmus [J. Mach. Learn. Res. 12 (2011) 1249–1286]. Some numerical experiments verify that the algorithm is accurate.
The high-redshift Universe with Spitzer

When did galaxies start forming stars? What is the role of distant galaxies in galaxy formation models and the epoch of reionization? What are the conditions in typical star-forming galaxies at redshifts ≳4? Why is galaxy evolution dependent on environment? The Spitzer Space Telescope has been a crucial tool for addressing these questions. Accurate knowledge of stellar masses, ages and star formation rates requires measuring rest-frame optical (and ultraviolet) light, which only Spitzer can probe at high redshifts for a sufficiently large sample of typical galaxies. Many of these science goals are the main science drivers for the James Webb Space Telescope, and Spitzer afforded us their first exploration. The Spitzer Space Telescope accurately measured stellar masses, ages and star formation rates for a large sample of typical galaxies at high redshifts, allowing an initial exploration of some of the key science drivers of the James Webb Space Telescope.
Analysis of linear waves near the Cauchy horizon of cosmological black holes

We show that linear scalar waves are bounded and continuous up to the Cauchy horizon of Reissner–Nordstrom–de Sitter and Kerr–de Sitter spacetimes and in fact decay exponentially fast to a constant along the Cauchy horizon. We obtain our results by modifying the spacetime beyond the Cauchy horizon in a suitable manner, which puts the wave equation into a framework in which a number of standard as well as more recent microlocal regularity and scattering theory results apply. In particular, the conormal regularity of waves at the Cauchy horizon—which yields the boundedness statement—is a consequence of radial point estimates, which are microlocal manifestations of the blue-shift and red-shift effects.