cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comments on D-brane dynamics near NS5-branes

We study the properties of a D-brane in the presence of k NS5 branes. The Dirac-Born-Infeld action describing the dynamics of this D-brane is very similar to that of a non-BPS D-brane in ten dimensions. As the D-brane approaches the fivebranes, its equation of state approaches that of a pressureless fluid. In non-BPS D-brane case this is considered as an evidence for the decay of the D-brane into ``tachyon matter''. We show that in our case similar behavior is the consequence of the motion of the D-brane. In particular in the rest frame of the moving D-brane the equation of state is that of a usual D-brane, for which the pressure is equal to the energy density. We also compute the total cross-section for the decay of the D-brane into closed string modes and show that the emitted energy has a power like divergence for D0, D1 and D2 branes, while converges for higher dimensional D-branes. We also speculate on the possibility that the infalling D-brane describes a decaying defect in six dimensional Little String Theory.
Implementation of the Shearing Box Approximation in Athena

We describe the implementation of the shearing box approximation for the study of the dynamics of accretion disks in the Athena magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code. Second-order Crank-Nicholson time differencing is used for the Coriolis and tidal gravity source terms that appear in the momentum equation for accuracy and stability. We show that this approach conserves energy for epicyclic oscillations in hydrodynamic flows to round-off error. In the energy equation, the tidal gravity source terms are differenced as the gradient of an effective potential in a way that guarantees that total energy (including the gravitational potential energy) is also conserved to round-off error. We introduce an orbital advection algorithm for MHD based on constrained transport to preserve the divergence-free constraint on the magnetic field. This algorithm removes the orbital velocity from the time step constraint, and makes the truncation error more uniform in radial position. Modifications to the shearing box boundary conditions applied at the radial boundaries are necessary to conserve the total vertical magnetic flux. In principle, similar corrections are also required to conserve mass, momentum, and energy; however in practice we find that the orbital advection method conserves these quantities to better than 0.03% over hundreds of orbits. The algorithms have been applied to studies of the nonlinear regime of the MRI in very wide (up to 32 scale heights) horizontal domains.
Representations of the Kauffman bracket skein algebra, II: Punctured surfaces

In part I, we constructed invariants of irreducible finite-dimensional representations of the Kauffman bracket skein algebra of a surface. We introduce here an inverse construction, which to a set of possible invariants associates an irreducible representation that realizes these invariants. The current article is restricted to surfaces with at least one puncture, a condition that is lifted in subsequent work relying on this one. A step in the proof is of independent interest, and describes the arithmetic structure of the Thurston intersection form on the space of integer weight systems for a train track.
Orbital stability of multi-planet systems: Behavior at high masses

In the coming years, high contrast imaging surveys are expected to reveal the characteristics of the population of wide-orbit, massive, exoplanets. To date, a handful of wide planetary mass companions are known, but only one such multi-planet system has been discovered: HR8799. For low mass planetary systems, multi-planet interactions play an important role in setting system architecture. In this paper, we explore the stability of these high mass, multi-planet systems. While empirical relationships exist that predict how system stability scales with planet spacing at low masses, we show that extrapolating to super-Jupiter masses can lead to up to an order of magnitude overestimate of stability for massive, tightly packed systems. We show that at both low and high planet masses, overlapping mean motion resonances trigger chaotic orbital evolution, which leads to system instability. We attribute some of the difference in behavior as a function of mass to the increasing importance of second order resonances at high planet-star mass ratios. We use our tailored high mass planet results to estimate the maximum number of planets that might reside in double component debris disk systems, whose gaps may indicate the presence of massive bodies.
Some information theoretic aspects of de-Sitter holography

Built on our observation that entangling surfaces of the boundary field theory are great co-dimension one spheres in the context of DS/dS correspondence, we study some information theoretic quantities of the field theory dual intensively using holographic proposals. We will focus on entanglement entropy (EE), entanglement of purification (EoP) and complexity. Several fundamental observations and analysis are provided. For EE, we focus on its scaling behavior, which indicates the nature of the relevant degrees of freedom. Moreover, we find that EE provides us with important information of the energy spectrum in pure dS and it also leads us to the speculation that the field theory dual is chaotic or non-integrable. For EoP, an interesting phenomenon we call “Entanglement Wedge Cross Section (EWCS) Jump” is observed according to which we propose two puzzles regarding EoP and EE in the context of dS holography. For complexity, we find that the Complexity=Volume proposal does not provide a well-defined way to compute complexity for pure dS. However, it does provide a well-defined way to compute complexity in the $$ T\overline{T} $$ + Λ2 deformed case. At the end, we will use the surface/state correspondence to resolve all the puzzles and hence reach a consistent information theoretic picture of dS holography. Moreover, we will provide evidence for our former proposal that the $$ T\overline{T} $$ + ⋯ deformations are operating quantum circuits and study the non-locality of the field theory algebra suggested by the surface/state correspondence.
Cyclic Cosmology from the Little Rip

We revisit a cyclic cosmology scenario proposed in 2007 to examine whether its hypotheses can be sustained if the underlying big-rip evolution, which was assumed there, is replaced by the recently proposed little rip. We show that the separation into causal patches at turnaround is generally valid for a little rip, and therefore conclude that the little rip is equally as suitable a basis for cyclicity as is the big rip.
The Kozai-Lidov Mechanism in Hydrodynamical Disks. II. Effects of Binary and Disk Parameters

Martin et al. showed that a substantially misaligned accretion disk around one component of a binary system can undergo global damped Kozai–Lidov (KL) oscillations. During these oscillations, the inclination and eccentricity of the disk are periodically exchanged. However, the robustness of this mechanism and its dependence on the system parameters were unexplored. In this paper, we use three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations to analyze how various binary and disk parameters affect the KL mechanism in hydrodynamical disks. The simulations include the effect of gas pressure and viscosity, but ignore the effects of disk self-gravity. We describe results for different numerical resolutions, binary mass ratios and orbital eccentricities, initial disk sizes, initial disk surface density profiles, disk sound speeds, and disk viscosities. We show that the KL mechanism can operate for a wide range of binary-disk parameters. We discuss the applications of our results to astrophysical disks in various accreting systems.
Self-Synchronizing Pulse Position Modulation With Error Tolerance

Pulse position modulation (PPM) is a popular signal modulation technique which converts signals into M-ary data by means of the position of a pulse within a time interval. While PPM and its variations have great advantages in many contexts, this type of modulation is vulnerable to loss of synchronization, potentially causing a severe error floor or throughput penalty even when little or no noise is assumed. Another disadvantage is that this type of modulation typically offers no error correction mechanism on its own, making them sensitive to intersymbol interference and environmental noise. In this paper, we propose a coding theoretic variation of PPM that allows for significantly more efficient symbol and frame synchronization as well as strong error correction. The proposed scheme can be divided into a synchronization layer and a modulation layer. This makes our technique compatible with major existing techniques such as standard PPM, multipulse PPM, and expurgated PPM as well in that the scheme can be realized by adding a simple synchronization layer to one of these standard techniques. We also develop a generalization of expurgated PPM suited for the modulation layer of the proposed self-synchronizing modulation scheme. This generalized PPM can also be used as stand-alone error-correcting PPM with a larger number of available symbols.
DARK MATTER CANDIDATE FROM CONFORMALITY

Abelian quiver gauge theories provide candidates for the conformality approach to physics beyond the standard model which possess novel cancellation mechanisms for quadratic divergences. A Z2 symmetry ( R parity) can be imposed and leads naturally to a dark matter candidate which is the Lightest Conformality Particle (LCP), a neutral spin-1 / 2 state with weak interaction annihilation cross-section, mass in the 100 GeV region and relic density of non-baryonic dark matter Ωdm which can be consistent with the observed value Ωdm≃0.24.
Rigidity Properties of the Blum Medial Axis

We consider the Blum medial axis of a region in $$\mathbb R^n$$ with piecewise smooth boundary and examine its “rigidity properties,”by which we mean properties preserved under diffeomorphisms of the regions preserving the medial axis. There are several possible versions of rigidity depending on what features of the Blum medial axis we wish to retain. We use a form of the cross ratio from projective geometry to show that in the case of four smooth sheets of the medial axis meeting along a branching submanifold, the cross ratio defines a function on the branching sheet which must be preserved under any diffeomorphism of the medial axis with another. Second, we show in the generic case, along a Y-branching submanifold, that there are three cross ratios involving the three limiting tangent planes of the three smooth sheets and each of the hyperplanes defined by one of the radial lines and the tangent space to the Y-branching submanifold at the point, which again must be preserved. Moreover, the triple of cross ratios then locally uniquely determines the angles between the smooth sheets. Third, we observe that for a diffeomorphism of the region preserving the Blum medial axis and the infinitesimal directions of the radial lines, the second derivative of the diffeomorphism at points of the medial axis must satisfy a condition relating the radial shape operators and hence the differential geometry of the boundaries at corresponding boundary points.
Supergranulation as the Largest Buoyantly Driven Convective Scale of the Sun

Supergranulation is characterized by horizontally divergent flows with typical length scales of 32 Mm in the solar photosphere. Unlike granulation, the size of which is comparable to both the thickness of the radiative boundary layer and local scale height of the plasma in the photosphere, supergranulation does not reflect any obvious length scale of the solar convection zone. Early suggestions that the depth of second helium ionization is important are not supported by numerical simulations. Thus the origin of the solar supergranulation remains largely a mystery. Moreover, observations of flows in the photosphere using either Doppler imaging or correlation or feature tracking show a monotonic decrease in power at scales larger than supergranulation. Both local area and global spherical shell simulations of solar convection by contrast show the opposite, a power law increase in horizontal flow amplitudes to low wavenumber. Here we examine this disparity, and investigate how the solar supergranulation may arise as a consequence of strong photospheric driving and non-local heat transport by cool diving plumes. Using three dimensional anelastic simulations with surface driving, we show that the kinetic energy of largest convective scales in the upper layers of a stratified domain reflects the depth of transition from strong buoyant driving to adiabatic stratification below. We interpret the observed monotonic decrease in solar convective power at scales larger than supergranulation to be a consequence of this rapid transition, and show how the supergranular scale can be understood as the largest buoyantly driven mode of convection in the Sun.
Joint CFO and channel estimation in millimeter wave systems with one-bit ADCs

We develop a method to jointly estimate the carrier frequency offset (CFO) and the narrowband channel in millimeter wave (mmWave) MIMO systems operating with one-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). We assume perfect timing synchronization and transform the underlying CFO-channel optimization problem to a higher dimensional space using lifting techniques. Exploiting the sparse nature of mmWave MIMO channels in the angle domain, we perform the joint estimation by solving a noisy quantized compressed sensing problem of the lifted version, using generalized approximate message passing. Simulation results show that our method is able to recover both the channel and the CFO using one-bit measurements.
Conditioning on an extreme component: Model consistency with regular variation on cones

Multivariate extreme value theory assumes a multivariate domain of attraction condition for the distribution of a random vector necessitating that each component satisfies a marginal domain of attraction condition. [12] and [11] developed an approximation to the joint distribution of the random vector by conditioning that one of the components be extreme. Prior papers left unresolved the consistency of dierent models obtained by conditioning on dierent components being extreme and we provide understanding of this issue. We also clarify the relationship between these conditional distributions, multivariate extreme value theory, and standard regular variation on cones of the form [0,1] ◊ (0,1].
Transiting Disintegrating Planetary Debris Around WD 1145+017

More than a decade after astronomers realized that disrupted planetary material likely pollutes the surfaces of many white dwarf stars, the discovery of transiting debris orbiting the white dwarf WD 1145+017 has opened the door to new explorations of this process. We describe the observational evidence for transiting planetary material and the current theoretical understanding (and in some cases lack thereof) of the phenomenon.
Blue Lurkers: Hidden Blue Stragglers on the M67 Main Sequence Identified from Their Kepler/K2 Rotation Periods

At an age of 4 Gyr, typical solar-type stars in M67 have rotation rates of 20-30 days. Using K2 Campaign 5 and 16 light curves and the spectral archive of the WIYN Open Cluster Study, we identify eleven three-dimensional kinematic members of M67 with anomalously fast rotation periods of 2-8 days, implying ages of less than 1 Gyr. We hypothesize that these anomalously fast rotators have been spun up by mass transfer, mergers, or stellar collisions during dynamical encounters within the last Gyr, and thus represent lower-luminosity counterparts to the blue straggler stars. These 11 candidate post-interaction stellar systems have much in common with the blue stragglers including a high binary fraction (73%), a number of long-period, low-eccentricity binary systems, and in at least one case a UV excess consistent with the presence of a hot white dwarf companion. The identification of these 11 systems provides the first picture of the low-luminosity end of the blue straggler distribution, providing new constraints for detailed binary evolution models and cluster population studies. This result also clearly demonstrates the need to properly account for the impact of binaries on stellar evolution, as significant numbers of post-interaction binaries likely exist on cluster main sequences and in the field. These stars are not always easy to identify, but make up ~10% of the spectroscopic binary population among the solar-type stars in M67.
LARGE-SCALE ASYMMETRIES IN THE TRANSITIONAL DISKS OF SAO 206462 AND SR 21

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations in the dust continuum (690 GHz, 0.45 mm) and ^(12)CO J = 6-5 spectral line emission of the transitional disks surrounding the stars SAO 206462 and SR 21. These ALMA observations resolve the dust-depleted disk cavities and extended gaseous disks, revealing large-scale asymmetries in the dust emission of both disks. We modeled these disk structures with a ring and an azimuthal Gaussian, where the azimuthal Gaussian is motivated by the steady-state vortex solution from Lyra & Lin. Compared to recent observations of HD 142527, Oph IRS 48, and LkHα 330, these are low-contrast (≾ 2) asymmetries. Nevertheless, a ring alone is not a good fit, and the addition of a vortex prescription describes these data much better. The asymmetric component encompasses 15% and 28% of the total disk emission in SAO 206462 and SR 21, respectively, which corresponds to a lower limit of 2 M_(Jup) of material within the asymmetry for both disks. Although the contrast in the dust asymmetry is low, we find that the turbulent velocity inside it must be large (~20% of the sound speed) in order to drive these azimuthally wide and radially narrow vortex-like structures. We obtain residuals from the ring and vortex fitting that are still significant, tracing non-axisymmetric emission in both disks. We compared these submillimeter observations with recently published H-band scattered light observations. For SR 21 the scattered light emission is distributed quite differently from the submillimeter continuum emission, while for SAO 206462 the submillimeter residuals are suggestive of spiral-like structure similar to the near-IR emission.
Physical consequences of complex dimensions of fractals

It has been realized that fractals may be characterized by complex dimensions, arising from complex poles of the corresponding zeta function, and we show here that these lead to oscillatory behavior in various physical quantities. We identify the physical origin of these complex poles as the exponentially large degeneracy of the iterated eigenvalues of the Laplacian, and discuss applications in quantum mesoscopic systems such as oscillations in the fluctuation Σ2(E) of the number of levels, as a correction to results obtained in random matrix theory. We present explicit expressions for these oscillations for families of diamond fractals, also studied as hierarchical lattices.
Cardinal interpolation with general multiquadrics

This paper studies the cardinal interpolation operators associated with the general multiquadrics, źź, c(x)=(źxź2 + c2)ź, xźźd$x\in \mathbb {R}^{d}$. These operators take the form Iź,cy(x)=źjźźdyjLź,c(xźj),y=(yj)jźźd,xźźd,$$\mathcal{I}_{\alpha,c}\mathbf{y}(x) = \sum\limits_{j\in\mathbb{Z}^{d}}y_{j}L_{\alpha,c}(x-j),\quad\mathbf{y}=(y_{j})_{j\in\mathbb{Z}^{d}},\quad x\in\mathbb{R}^{d}, $$ where Lź, c is a fundamental function formed by integer translates of źź, c which satisfies the interpolatory condition Lź,c(k)=ź0,k,kźźd$L_{\alpha ,c}(k) = \delta _{0,k},\; k\in \mathbb {Z}^{d}$. We consider recovery results for interpolation of bandlimited functions in higher dimensions by limiting the parameter cźź$c\to \infty $. In the univariate case, we consider the norm of the operator Iź,c$\mathcal {I}_{\alpha ,c}$ acting on lp spaces as well as prove decay rates for Lź, c using a detailed analysis of the derivatives of its Fourier transform, Lź,cź$\widehat {L_{\alpha ,c}}$.
Ultra-Short-Period Planets in K2 Superpig Results for Campaigns 0-5

We analyzed data from Campaigns 0–5 of the K2 mission and report 19 ultra-short-period candidate planets with orbital periods of less than one day (nine of which have not been previously reported). Planet candidates range in size from 0.7 to 16 Earth radii and in orbital period from 4.2 to 23.5 hr. One candidate (EPIC 203533312, Kp = 12.5) is among the shortest-period planet candidates discovered to date ( hr), and, if confirmed as a planet, must have a density of at least to not be tidally disrupted. Five candidates have nominal radius values in the sub-Jovian desert ( and days) where theoretical models do not favor their long-term stability; the only confirmed planet in this range is thought to be disintegrating (EPIC 201637175). In addition to the planet candidates, we report on four objects that may not be planetary, including one with intermittent transits (EPIC 211152484) and three initially promising candidates that are likely false positives based on characteristics of their light curves and on radial velocity follow-up. A list of 91 suspected eclipsing binaries identified at various stages in our vetting process is also provided. Based on an assessment of our survey's completeness, we estimate an occurrence rate for ultra-short-period planets among K2 target stars that is about half that estimated from the Kepler sample, raising questions as to whether K2 systems are intrinsically different from Kepler systems, possibly as a result of their different galactic location.
Revealing the Double Nucleus of NGC 4490

NGC 4490/85 (UGC 7651/48) or Arp 269 is well known for being one of the closest interacting/merging galactic systems. NGC 4490 has a high star formation rate (SFR) and is surrounded by an enormous HI feature stretching about 60 kpc north and south of the optically visible galaxies. Both the driver for the high SFR in NGC 4490 and the formation mechanism of the HI structure are puzzling aspects of this system. We have used mid-infrared Spitzer data to show that NGC 4490 has a double nucleus morphology. One nucleus is visible in the optical, while the other is only visible at infrared and radio wavelengths. We find the optical nucleus and the potential infrared visible nucleus have similar sizes, masses, and luminosities. Both are comparable in mass and luminosity to other nuclei found in interacting galaxy pairs and much more massive and luminous compared with typical non-nuclear star-forming complexes. We examine possible origin scenarios for the infrared feature, and conclude that it is likely that NGC 4490 is itself a merger remnant, which is now interacting with NGC 4485. This earlier encounter provides both a possible driver for extended star formation in NGC 4490, and multiple pathways for the formation of the extended HI plume.
Limit Shapes via Bijections

We compute the limit shape for several classes of restricted integer partitions, where the restrictions are placed on the part sizes rather than the multiplicities. Our approach utilizes certain classes of bijections which map limit shapes continuously in the plane. We start with bijections outlined in [43], and extend them to include limit shapes with different scaling functions.
Learning implicit brain MRI manifolds with deep learning

An important task in image processing and neuroimaging is to extract quantitative information from the acquired images in order to make observations about the presence of disease or markers of development in populations. Having a low-dimensional manifold of an image allows for easier statistical comparisons between groups and the synthesis of group representatives. Previous studies have sought to identify the best mapping of brain MRI to a low-dimensional manifold, but have been limited by assumptions of explicit similarity measures. In this work, we use deep learning techniques to investigate implicit manifolds of normal brains and generate new, high-quality images. We explore implicit manifolds by addressing the problems of image synthesis and image denoising as important tools in manifold learning. First, we propose the unsupervised synthesis of T1-weighted brain MRI using a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) by learning from 528 examples of 2D axial slices of brain MRI. Synthesized images were first shown to be unique by performing a cross-correlation with the training set. Real and synthesized images were then assessed in a blinded manner by two imaging experts providing an image quality score of 1-5. The quality score of the synthetic image showed substantial overlap with that of the real images. Moreover, we use an autoencoder with skip connections for image denoising, showing that the proposed method results in higher PSNR than FSL SUSAN after denoising. This work shows the power of artificial networks to synthesize realistic imaging data, which can be used to improve image processing techniques and provide a quantitative framework to structural changes in the brain.
Sensitivity of orbiting JEM-EUSO to large-scale cosmic-ray anisotropies

The two main advantages of space-based observation of extreme-energy ( 1019 eV) cosmic-rays (EECRs) over ground-based observatories are the increased field of view, and the allsky coverage with nearly uniform systematics of an orbiting observatory. The former guarantees increased statistics, whereas the latter enables a partitioning of the sky into spherical harmonics. We have begun an investigation, using the spherical harmonic technique, of the reach of JEM- EUSO into potential anisotropies in the extreme-energy cosmic-ray sky-map. The technique is explained here, and simulations are presented. The discovery of anisotropies would help to identify the long-sought origin of EECRs.
Local gap threshold for frustration-free spin systems

We improve Knabe’s spectral gap bound for frustration-free translation-invariant local Hamiltonians in 1D. The bound is based on a relationship between global and local gaps. The global gap is the spectral gap of a size-m chain with periodic boundary conditions, while the local gap is that of a subchain of size n 2, then the global gap is lower bounded by a positive constant in the thermodynamic limit m → ∞. Here we improve the threshold to 6/(n+1), which is better (smaller) for all n > 3 and which is asymptotically optimal. As a corollary we establish a surprising fact about 1D translation-invariant frustration-free systems that are gapless in the thermodynamic limit: for any such system the spectral gap of a size-n chain with open boundary conditions is upper bounded as O(n^(−2)). This contrasts with gapless frustrated systems where the gap can be Θ(n^(−1)). It also limits the extent to which the area law is violated in these frustration-free systems, since it implies that the half-chain entanglement entropy is O(1/ϵ) as a function of spectral gap ϵ. We extend our results to frustration-free systems on a 2D square lattice.
Ernest Henley’s isospin and the ensuing progress

Ernest Henley's contributions to understanding isospin symmetry and the experimental and theoretical progress that followed are reviewed. Many experimentalists and theorists worked to bring Ernest's early vision of the subject to fruition. This progress and wide-ranging impact is described.
Unitarization from geometry

We study the perturbative unitarity of scattering amplitudes in general dimensional reductions of Yang-Mills theories and general relativity on closed internal manifolds. For the tree amplitudes of the dimensionally reduced theory to have the expected high-energy behavior of the higher-dimensional theory, the masses and cubic couplings of the Kaluza-Klein states must satisfy certain sum rules that ensure there are nontrivial cancellations between Feynman diagrams. These sum rules give constraints on the spectra and triple overlap integrals of eigenfunctions of Laplacian operators on the internal manifold and can be proven directly using Hodge and eigenfunction decompositions. One consequence of these constraints is that there is an upper bound on the ratio of consecutive eigenvalues of the scalar Laplacian on closed Ricci-flat manifolds with special holonomy. This gives a sharp bound on the allowed gaps between Kaluza-Klein excitations of the graviton that also applies to Calabi-Yau compactifications of string theory.
Fluctuations in the Homogenization of Semilinear Equations with Random Potentials

ABSTRACTWe study the stochastic homogenization and obtain a random fluctuation theory for semilinear elliptic equations with a rapidly varying random potential. To first order, the effective potential is the average potential and the nonlinearity is not affected by the randomness. We then study the limiting distribution of the properly scaled homogenization error (random fluctuations) in the space of square integrable functions, and prove that the limit is a Gaussian distribution characterized by homogenized solution, the Green’s function of the linearized equation around the homogenized solution, and by the integral of the correlation function of the random potential. These results enlarge the scope of the framework that we have developed for linear equations to the class of semilinear equations.
An algebraic approach to virtual fundamental cycles on moduli spaces of pseudo-holomorphic curves

We develop techniques for defining and working with virtual fundamental cycles on moduli spaces of pseudo-holomorphic curves which are not necessarily cut out transversally. Such techniques have the potential for applications as foundations for invariants in symplectic topology arising from “counting” pseudo-holomorphic curves. We introduce the notion of an implicit atlas on a moduli space, which is (roughly) a convenient system of local finite-dimensional reductions. We present a general intrinsic strategy for constructing a canonical implicit atlas on any moduli space of pseudo-holomorphic curves. The main technical step in applying this strategy in any particular setting is to prove appropriate gluing theorems. We require only topological gluing theorems, that is, smoothness of the transition maps between gluing charts need not be addressed. Our approach to virtual fundamental cycles is algebraic rather than geometric (in particular, we do not use perturbation). Sheaf-theoretic tools play an important role in setting up our functorial algebraic “VFC package”. We illustrate the methods we introduce by giving definitions of Gromov–Witten invariants and Hamiltonian Floer homology over ℚ for general symplectic manifolds. Our framework generalizes to the S1–equivariant setting, and we use S1–localization to calculate Hamiltonian Floer homology. The Arnold conjecture (as treated by Floer, by Hofer and Salamon, by Ono, by Liu and Tian, by Ruan, and by Fukaya and Ono) is a well-known corollary of this calculation.
Virtuous smoothing for global optimization

In the context of global optimization and mixed-integer non-linear programming, generalizing a technique of D’Ambrosio, Fampa, Lee and Vigerske for handling the square-root function, we develop a virtuous smoothing method, using cubics, aimed at functions having some limited non-smoothness. Our results pertain to root functions ( $$w^p$$ with $$0<p<1$$ ) and their increasing concave relatives. We provide (i) a sufficient condition (which applies to functions more general than root functions) for our smoothing to be increasing and concave, (ii) a proof that when $$p=1/q$$ for integers $$q\ge 2$$ , our smoothing lower bounds the root function, (iii) substantial progress (i.e., a proof for integers $$2\le q\le 10{,}000$$ ) on the conjecture that our smoothing is a sharper bound on the root function than the natural and simpler “shifted root function”, and (iv) for all root functions, a quantification of the superiority (in an average sense) of our smoothing versus the shifted root function near 0.
Insufficiency of the Brauer-Manin obstruction applied to étale covers

Let k be any global field of characteristic not 2. We construct a k-variety X such that X(k) is empty, but for which the emptiness cannot be explained by the Brauer-Manin obstruction or even by the Brauer-Manin obstruction applied to finite etale covers.
Decays of long-lived relics and their signatures at IceCube

We consider long-lived relic particles as the source of the PeV-scale neutrinos detected at the IceCube observatory over the last six years. We derive the present day neutrino flux, including primary neutrinos from direct decays, secondary neutrinos from electroweak showering, and tertiary neutrinos from re-scatters off the relic neutrino background. We compare the high-energy neutrino flux prediction to the most recently available datasets and find qualitative differences to expected spectra from other astrophysical processes. We utilize electroweak corrections to constrain heavy decaying relic abundances, using measurements impacted by electromagnetic energy injection, such as light element abundances during Big Bang nucleosynthesis, cosmic microwave background anisotropies, and diffuse γ-ray spectra. We compare these abundances to those necessary to source the IceCube neutrinos and find two viable regions in parameter space, ultimately testable by future neutrino, γ-ray, and cosmic microwave background observatories.
Using contexts and constraints for improved geotagging of human trafficking webpages

Extracting geographical tags from webpages is a well-motiva-ted application in many domains. In illicit domains with unusual language models, like human trafficking, extracting geotags with both high precision and recall is a challenging problem. In this paper, we describe a geotag extraction framework in which context, constraints and the openly available Geonames knowledge base work in tandem in an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) model to achieve good performance. In preliminary empirical investigations, the framework improves precision by 28.57% and F-measure by 36.9% on a difficult human trafficking geotagging task compared to a machine learning-based baseline. The method is already being integrated into an existing knowledge base construction system widely used by US law enforcement agencies to combat human trafficking.
Core-collapse supernovae and gravitational waves

Core-collapse supernovae are dramatic events with a rich phenomenology, including gravitational radiation. Simulations of these events in multiple spatial dimensions with energy- and angle-dependent neutrino transport are still in their infancy. Core collapse and bounce in a supernova in our galaxy may well be visible by first-generation LIGO, but detailed understanding waits on improvements in modeling both stellar progenitors and the supernova process.
Quantum-first gravity

This paper elaborates on an intrinsically quantum approach to gravity, which begins with a general framework for quantum mechanics and then seeks to identify additional mathematical structure on Hilbert space that is responsible for gravity and other phenomena. A key principle in this approach is that of correspondence: this structure should reproduce spacetime, general relativity, and quantum field theory in a limit of weak gravitational fields. A central question is that of “Einstein separability,” and asks how to define mutually independent subsystems, e.g. through localization. Familiar definitions involving tensor products or operator subalgebras do not clearly accomplish this in gravity, as is seen in the correspondence limit. Instead, gravitational behavior, particularly gauge invariance, suggests a network of Hilbert subspaces related via inclusion maps, contrasting with other approaches based on tensor-factorized Hilbert spaces. Any such localization structure is also expected to place strong constraints on evolution, which are also supplemented by the constraint of unitarity.
Infrared divergences in the EPRL-FK spin foam model

We provide an algorithm to estimate the divergence degree of the Lorentzian EPRL-FK spin foam amplitudes for arbitrary 2-complexes. We focus on the "self-energy" and "vertex renormalization" diagrams and find an upper bound estimate. We argue that our upper bound must be close to the actual value, and explain what numerical improvements are needed to verify this numerically. For the self-energy, this turns out to be significantly more divergent than the lower bound estimate present in the literature. We support the validity of our algorithm using 3-stranded versions of the amplitudes (corresponding to a toy 3d model) for which our estimates are confirmed numerically. We also apply our methods to the simplified EPRLs model, finding a completely convergent behavior, and to BF theory, independently recovering the divergent estimates present in the literature.
Red Supergiants in the Local Group

Galaxies in the Local Group span a factor of 15 in metallicity, ranging from the super-solar M 31 to the Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte (WLM) galaxy, which is the lowest-metallicity (0.1 Z ⊙ ) Local Group galaxy currently forming stars. Studies of massive star populations across this broad range of environments have revealed important metal-licity-dependent evolutionary trends, allowing us to test the accuracy of stellar evolutionary tracks at these metallicities for the first time. The RSG population is particularly valuable as a key mass-losing phase of moderately massive stars and a source of core-collapse supernova progenitors. By reviewing recent work on the RSG populations in the Local Group, we are able to quantify limits on these stars’ effective temperatures and masses and probe the relationship between RSG mass loss behaviors and host environments. Extragalactic surveys of RSGs have also revealed several unusual RSGs that display signs of unusual spectral variability and dust production, traits that may potentially also correlate with the stars’ host environments. I will present some of the latest work that has advanced our understanding of RSGs in the Local Group, and consider the many new questions posed by our ever-evolving picture of these stars.
Bose-Fermi duality and entanglement entropies

Entanglement (R?nyi) entropies of spatial regions are a useful tool for characterizing the ground states of quantum field theories. In this paper we investigate the extent to which these are universal quantities for a given theory, and to which they distinguish different theories, by comparing the entanglement spectra of the massless Dirac fermion and the compact free boson in two dimensions. We show that the calculation of R?nyi entropies via the replica trick for any orbifold theory includes a sum over orbifold twists on all cycles. In a modular-invariant theory of fermions, this amounts to a sum over spin structures. The result is that the R?nyi entropies respect the standard Bose?Fermi duality. Next, we investigate the entanglement spectrum for the Dirac fermion without a sum over spin structures, and for the compact boson at the self-dual radius. These are not equivalent theories; nonetheless, we find that (1)?their second R?nyi entropies agree for any number of intervals, (2)?their full entanglement spectra agree for two intervals, and (3)?the spectrum generically disagrees otherwise. These results follow from the equality of the partition functions of the two theories on any Riemann surface with imaginary period matrix. We also exhibit a map between the operators of the theories that preserves scaling dimensions (but not spins), as well as OPEs and correlators of operators placed on the real line. All of these coincidences can be traced to the fact that the momentum lattice for the bosonized fermion is related to that of the self-dual boson by a 45??rotation that mixes left- and right-movers.
Paraxial phasor-field physical optics

Phasor-field (P-field) imaging is a promising recent solution to the task of non-line-of-sight (NLoS) imaging, colloquially referred to as "seeing around corners." It consists of treating the oscillating envelope of amplitude-modulated, spatially-incoherent light as if it were itself an optical wave, akin to the oscillations of the underlying electromagnetic field. This resemblance enables traditional optical imaging strategies, e.g., lenses, to be applied to NLoS imaging tasks. To date, however, this ability has only been applied computationally. In this paper, we provide a rigorous mathematical demonstration that P-field imaging can be performed with physical optics, viz., that ordinary lenses can focus or project P fields through intervening diffusers-despite these diffusers' broadly dispersing the light passing through them-and that they can image scenes hidden by such diffusers. Hence NLoS imaging might be carried out via P-field physical optics without the nontrivial computational burden of prior NLoS techniques.
Relativistic drag and emission radiation pressures in an isotropic photonic gas

By invoking the relativistic spectral radiance, as derived by Lee and Cleaver,1 the drag radiation pressure of a relativistic planar surface moving through an isotropic radiation field, with which it is in thermal equilibrium, is determined in inertial and non-inertial frames. The forward- and backward-directed emission radiation pressures are also derived and compared. A fleeting (inertial frames) or ongoing (some non-inertial frames) Carnot cycle is shown to exist as a result of an intra-surfaces temperature gradient. The drag radiation pressure on an object with an arbitrary frontal geometry is also described.
Counterexample to the Generalized Bogomolov–Gieseker Inequality for Threefolds

We give a counterexample to the generalized Bogomolov-Gieseker inequality for threefolds conjectured by Bayer, Macri and Toda using the blow up of a point over three dimensional projective space.
PHASE-RESOLVED INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY AND PHOTOMETRY OF V1500 CYGNI, AND A SEARCH FOR SIMILAR OLD CLASSICAL NOVAE

We present phase-resolved near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy of the classical nova (CN) V1500 Cyg to explore whether cyclotron emission is present in this system. While the spectroscopy do not indicate the presence of discrete cyclotron harmonic emission, the light curves suggest that a sizable fraction of its near-infrared fluxes are due to this component. The light curves of V1500 Cyg appear to remain dominated by emission from the heated face of the secondary star in this system. We have used infrared spectroscopy and photometry to search for other potential magnetic systems among old CNe. We have found that the infrared light curves of V1974 Cyg superficially resemble those of V1500 Cyg, suggesting a highly irradiated companion. The old novae V446 Her and QV Vul have light curves with large amplitude variations like those seen in polars, suggesting they might have magnetic primaries. We extract photometry for 79 old novae from the Two Micron All Sky Survey Point Source Catalog and use those data to derive the mean, un-reddened infrared colors of quiescent novae. We also extract WISE data for these objects and find that 45 of them were detected. Surprisingly, a number of these systems were detected in the WISE 22 ?m band. While two of those objects produced significant dust shells (V705 Cas and V445 Pup), the others did not. It appears that line emission from their ionized ejected shells is the most likely explanation for those detections.
On the Red Giant Branch: Ambiguity in the Surface Boundary Condition Leads to ≈100 K Uncertainty in Model Effective Temperatures

The effective temperature (Teff) distribution of stellar evolution models along the red giant branch (RGB) is sensitive to a number of parameters including the overall metallicity, elemental abundance patterns, the efficiency of convection, and the treatment of the surface boundary condition. Recently there has been interest in using observational estimates of the RGB Teff to place constraints on the mixing length parameter, a_MLT, and possible variation with metallicity. Here we use 1D MESA stellar evolution models to explore the sensitivity of the RGB Teff to the treatment of the surface boundary condition. We find that different surface boundary conditions can lead to +/- 100 K metallicity-dependent offsets on the RGB relative to one another in spite of the fact that all models can reproduce the properties of the Sun. Moreover, for a given atmosphere T-tau relation, we find that the RGB Teff is also sensitive to the optical depth at which the surface boundary condition is applied in the stellar model. Nearly all models adopt the photosphere as the location of the surface boundary condition but this choice is somewhat arbitrary. We compare our models to stellar parameters derived from the APOGEE-Kepler sample of first ascent red giants and find that systematic uncertainties in the models due to treatment of the surface boundary condition place a limit of ~100 K below which it is not possible to make firm conclusions regarding the fidelity of the current generation of stellar models.
Simulations of Closed Timelike Curves

Proposed models of closed timelike curves (CTCs) have been shown to enable powerful information-processing protocols. We examine the simulation of models of CTCs both by other models of CTCs and by physical systems without access to CTCs. We prove that the recently proposed transition probability CTCs (T-CTCs) are physically equivalent to postselection CTCs (P-CTCs), in the sense that one model can simulate the other with reasonable overhead. As a consequence, their information-processing capabilities are equivalent. We also describe a method for quantum computers to simulate Deutschian CTCs (but with a reasonable overhead only in some cases). In cases for which the overhead is reasonable, it might be possible to perform the simulation in a table-top experiment. This approach has the benefit of resolving some ambiguities associated with the equivalent circuit model of Ralph et al. Furthermore, we provide an explicit form for the state of the CTC system such that it is a maximum-entropy state, as prescribed by Deutsch.
The Fermi Paradox and the Aurora Effect: Exo-civilization Settlement, Expansion, and Steady States

We model the settlement of the galaxy by space-faring civilizations in order to address issues related to the Fermi Paradox. We explore the problem in a way that avoids assumptions about the intent and motivation of any exo-civilization seeking to settle other planetary systems. We first consider the speed of an advancing settlement via probes of finite velocity and range to determine if the galaxy can become inhabited with space-faring civilizations on timescales shorter than its age. We also include the effect of stellar motions on the long term behavior of the settlement front which adds a diffusive component to its advance. The results of these models demonstrate that the Milky Way can be readily 'filled-in' with settled stellar systems under conservative assumptions about interstellar spacecraft velocities and launch rates. We then consider the question of the galactic steady-state achieved in terms of the fraction of settled planets. We do this by considering the effect of finite settlement civilization lifetimes on the steady states. We find a range of parameters for which the galaxy supports a population of interstellar space-faring civilizations even though some settleable systems are uninhabited. Both results point to ways in which Earth might remain unvisited in the midst of an inhabited galaxy. Finally we consider how our results can be combined with the finite horizon for evidence of previous settlements in Earth's geologic record. Our steady-state model can constrain the probabilities for an Earth visit by a settling civilization before a given time horizon. These results break the link between Hart's famous "Fact A" (no interstellar visitors on Earth now) and the conclusion that humans must, therefore, be the only technological civilization in the galaxy.