cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
RF current condensation in magnetic islands and associated hysteresis phenomena

The nonlinear RF current condensation effect suggests that magnetic islands might be well controlled with broader deposition profiles than previously thought possible. To assess this possibility, a simplified energy deposition model in a symmetrized 1D slab geometry is constructed. By limiting the RF wave power that can be absorbed through damping, this model also describes the predicted hysteresis phenomena. Compared to the linear model, the nonlinear effects lead to larger temperature variations, narrower deposition widths, and more robust island stabilization. Although, in certain regimes, the island center can be disadvantageously shaded because of the nonlinear effects, in general, the RF condensation effect can take place, with current preferentially generated, advantageously, close to the island center.
Massive to gauge field reduction and gravitational wave zone information

I analyze the possible relevance of LIGO’s gravitational wave detection to the viability of massive gravity models. In GR, a wave zone, where the linearized approximation holds, is guaranteed to exist and the observed wave’s amplitude profile can be sufficiently related to the emitting strong field interior to verify that, in this case, it was due to an inspiraling black hole merger. After an excursion to massive spin 1’s massless limit, linear massive tensor theory is shown explicitly to propagate only (retarded) maximal, helicity 2, modes to O(m) as $$m\rightarrow 0$$ ; however, we don’t know if the full theory has a similar “wave zone” governed by the linear model. Even if it does, a much more serious obstacle for massive gravity is to construct a time-varying strong field event to compare with the strong field footprint of LIGO’s observed signals.
A lasso for hierarchical interactions

We add a set of convex constraints to the lasso to produce sparse interaction models that honor the hierarchy restriction that an interaction only be included in a model if one or both variables are marginally important. We give a precise characterization of the effect of this hierarchy constraint, prove that hierarchy holds with probability one and derive an unbiased estimate for the degrees of freedom of our estimator. A bound on this estimate reveals the amount of fitting "saved" by the hierarchy constraint. We distinguish between parameter sparsity-the number of nonzero coefficients-and practical sparsity-the number of raw variables one must measure to make a new prediction. Hierarchy focuses on the latter, which is more closely tied to important data collection concerns such as cost, time and effort. We develop an algorithm, available in the R package hierNet, and perform an empirical study of our method.
Spectral universality of real chiral random matrix ensembles

We investigate the universality of microscopic eigenvalue correlations for random matrix theories with the global symmetries of the QCD partition function. In this article we analyze the case of real valued chiral random matrix theories ( β=1 ) by relating the kernel of the correlations functions for β=1 to the kernel of chiral random matrix theories with complex matrix elements ( β=2 ), which is already known to be universal. We show universality based on a novel asymptotic property of the skew-orthogonal polynomials: an integral over the corresponding wavefunctions oscillates about half its asymptotic value in the region of the bulk of the zeros. This result solves the puzzle that microscopic universality persists in spite of contributions to the microscopic correlators from the region near the largest zero of the skew-orthogonal polynomials. Our analytical results are illustrated by the numerical construction of the skew-orthogonal polynomials for an x4 probability potential.
Maxwell’s Equations are Universal for Locally Conserved Quantities

A fundamental result of classical electromagnetism is that Maxwell’s equations imply that electric charge is locally conserved. Here we show the converse: Local charge conservation implies the local existence of fields satisfying Maxwell’s equations. This holds true for any conserved quantity satisfying a continuity equation. It is obtained by means of a strong form of the Poincare lemma presented here that states: Divergence-free multivector fields locally possess curl-free antiderivatives on flat manifolds. The above converse is an application of this lemma in the case of divergence-free vector fields in spacetime. We also provide conditions under which the result generalizes to curved manifolds.
QUASI-RESONANT THEORY OF TIDAL INTERACTIONS

When a spinning system experiences a transient gravitational encounter with an external perturber, a quasi-resonance occurs if the spin frequency of the victim roughly matches the peak angular speed of the perturber. Such encounters are responsible for the formation of long tails and bridges during galaxy collisions. For high-speed encounters, the resulting velocity perturbations can be described by the impulse approximation. The traditional impulse approximation, however, does not distinguish between prograde and retrograde encounters, and therefore completely misses the resonant response. Here, we modify the impulse approximation to include the effects of quasi-resonant phenomena on stars orbiting within a disk. Explicit expressions are derived for the velocity and energy changes to the stars induced by tidal forces from an external gravitational perturber passing either on a straight line or a parabolic orbit. Comparisons with numerical-restricted three-body calculations illustrate the applicability of our analysis.
X-Ray Source Heights in a Solar Flare: Thick-Target Versus Thermal Conduction Front Heating

Observations of solar flares with RHESSI have shown X-ray sources traveling along flaring loops, from the corona down to the chromosphere and back up. The 2002 November 28 C1.1 flare, first observed with RHESSI by Sui et al. and quantitatively analyzed by O'Flannagain et al., very clearly shows this behavior. By employing numerical experiments, we use these observations of X-ray source height motions as a constraint to distinguish between heating due to a non-thermal electron beam and in situ energy deposition in the corona. We find that both heating scenarios can reproduce the observed light curves, but our results favor non-thermal heating. In situ heating is inconsistent with the observed X-ray source morphology and always gives a height dispersion with photon energy opposite to what is observed.
Angular Momentum and Galaxy Formation Revisited: Scaling Relations for Disks and Bulges

We show that the stellar specific angular momentum j_*, mass M_*, and bulge fraction beta_* of normal galaxies of all morphological types are consistent with a simple model based on a linear superposition of independent disks and bulges. In this model, disks and bulges follow scaling relations of the form j_*d ~ M_*d^alpha and j_*b ~ M_*b^alpha with alpha = 0.67 +/- 0.07 but offset from each other by a factor of 8 +/- 2 over the mass range 8.9 <= log M_*/M_Sun <= 11.8. Separate fits for disks and bulges alone give alpha = 0.58 +/- 0.10 and alpha = 0.83 +/- 0.16, respectively. This model correctly predicts that galaxies follow a curved 2D surface in the 3D space of log j_*, log M_*, and beta_*. We find no statistically significant indication that galaxies with classical and pseudo bulges follow different relations in this space, although some differences are permitted within the observed scatter and the inherent uncertainties in decomposing galaxies into disks and bulges. As a byproduct of this analysis, we show that the j_*--M_* scaling relations for disk-dominated galaxies from several previous studies are in excellent agreement with each other. In addition, we resolve some conflicting claims about the beta_*-dependence of the j_*--M_* scaling relations. The results presented here reinforce and extend our earlier suggestion that the distribution of galaxies with different beta_* in the j_*--M_* diagram constitutes an objective, physically motivated alternative to subjective classification schemes such as the Hubble sequence.
Fluctuation theorem and extended thermodynamics of turbulence.

Turbulent flows are out-of-equilibrium because the energy supply at large scales and its dissipation by viscosity at small scales create a net transfer of energy among all scales. This energy casca...
SURFACE INDUCED ANOMALOUS SUPERCONDUCTIVITY

The Ginzburg–Landau (GL) theory is recast using a Hamiltonian involving the complete kinetic energy density which requires that the surface energy must contain a term ∇|ψ|2 to support superconducting (SC) states. The GL equations contain two temperature t dependent parameters α(t) and β(t), which are respectively the coefficients of the SC pair density ∝|ψ|2, and the pair interaction term ∝|ψ|4 in the free energy density. The sign of these parameters, which defines distinct solution classes, and the ratio are governed by the characteristics of the surface energy density. In addition to the conventional bulk superconducting states with (α 0), anomalous superconducting states exist for all other sign combinations, including cases with β < 0 which may exist only when surface pair interactions are significant. All possible solutions of our generalized nonlinear, one-dimensional GL equations are found analytically and applied to a thin superconducting slab which manifests the possibility of states exhibiting enhanced, diminished, and pre-wetting superconductivity. Critical currents are determined as functions of s(t) and surface parameters. The results are applied to critical current experiments on SNS systems.
Order of epitaxial self-assembled quantum dots: linear analysis

Abstract Epitaxial self-assembled quantum dots (SAQDs) are of interest for nanostructured optoelectronic and electronic devices such as lasers, photodetectors and nanoscale logic. Spatial order and size order of SAQDs are important to the development of usable devices. It is likely that these two types of order are strongly linked; thus, a study of spatial order will also have strong implications for size order. Here a study of spatial order is undertaken using a linear analysis of a commonly used model of SAQD formation based on surface diffusion. Analytic formulas for film-height correlation functions are found that characterize quantum dot spatial order and corresponding correlation lengths that quantify order. Initial atomic-scale random fluctuations result in relatively small correlation lengths (about two dots) when the effect of a wetting potential is negligible; however, the correlation lengths diverge when SAQDs are allowed to form at a near-critical film height. The present work reinforces previous findings about anisotropy and SAQD order and presents as explicit and transparent mechanism for ordering with corresponding analytic equations. In addition, SAQD formation is by its nature a stochastic process, and various mathematical aspects regarding statistical analysis of SAQD formation and order are presented.
High-Performance Multi-Mode Ptychography Reconstruction on Distributed GPUs

Ptychography is an emerging imaging technique that is able to provide wavelength-limited spatial resolution from specimen with extended lateral dimensions. As a scanning microscopy method, a typical two-dimensional image requires a number of data frames. As a diffraction-based imaging technique, the real-space image has to be recovered through iterative reconstruction algorithms. Due to these two inherent aspects, a ptychographic reconstruction is generally a computation-intensive and time-consuming process, which limits the throughput of this method. We report an accelerated version of the multi-mode difference map algorithm for ptychography reconstruction using multiple distributed GPUs. This approach leverages available scientific computing packages in Python, including mpi4py and PyCUDA, with the core computation functions implemented in CUDA C. We find that interestingly even with MPI collective communications, the weak scaling in the number of GPU nodes can still remain nearly constant. Most importantly, for realistic diffraction measurements, we observe a speedup ranging from a factor of 10 to 103 depending on the data size, which reduces the reconstruction time remarkably from hours to typically about 1 minute and is thus critical for real-time data processing and visualization.
Nanodrop impact on solid surfaces

The impact of nanometer sized drops on solid surfaces is studied using molecular dynamics simulations. Equilibrated floating drops consisting of short chains of Lennard-Jones liquids with adjustable volatility are directed normally onto an atomistic solid surface where they are observed to bounce, stick, splash, or disintegrate, depending on the initial velocity and the nature of the materials involved. Drops impacting at low velocity bounce from non-wetting surfaces but stick and subsequently spread slowly on wetting surfaces. Higher velocity impacts produce an prompt splash followed by disintegration of the drop, while at still higher velocity, drops disintegrate immediately. The disintegration can be understood as either a loss of coherence of the liquid or as the result of a local temperature exceeding the liquid-vapor coexistence value. In contrast to macroscopic drops, the presence of vapor outside the drop does not effect the behavior in any significant way. Nonetheless, the transition between the splashing and bouncing/sticking regimes occurs at Reynolds and Weber numbers similar to those found for larger drops.
Sculpting Eccentric Debris Disks with Eccentric Gas Rings

Many debris disks seen in scattered light have shapes that imply their dust grains trace highly eccentric, apsidally aligned orbits. Apsidal alignment is surprising, especially for dust. Even when born from an apse-aligned ring of parent bodies, dust grains have their periastra dispersed in all directions by stellar radiation pressure. The periastra cannot be re-oriented by planets within the short dust lifetimes at the bottom of the collisional cascade. We propose that what re-aligns dust orbits is drag exerted by second-generation gas. Gas is largely immune to radiation pressure, and when released by photodesorption or collisions within an eccentric ring of parent bodies should occupy a similarly eccentric, apse-aligned ring. Dust grains launched onto misaligned orbits cross the eccentric gas ring supersonically and can become dragged into alignment within collisional lifetimes. The resultant dust configurations, viewed nearly but not exactly edge-on, with periastra pointing away from the observer, appear moth-like, with kinked wings and even doubled pairs of wings, explaining otherwise mysterious features in HD 61005 ("The Moth") and HD 32297, including their central bulbs when we account for strong forward scattering from irregularly shaped particles. Around these systems we predict gas at Kuiper-belt-like distances to move on highly elliptical streamlines that owe their elongation, ultimately, to highly eccentric planets. Unresolved issues and an alternative explanation for apsidal alignment are outlined.
Spin transport in a Mott insulator of ultracold fermions

Strongly correlated materials are expected to feature unconventional transport properties, such that charge, spin, and heat conduction are potentially independent probes of the dynamics. In contrast to charge transport, the measurement of spin transport in such materials is highly challenging. We observed spin conduction and diffusion in a system of ultracold fermionic atoms that realizes the half-filled Fermi-Hubbard model. For strong interactions, spin diffusion is driven by super-exchange and doublon-hole–assisted tunneling, and strongly violates the quantum limit of charge diffusion. The technique developed in this work can be extended to finite doping, which can shed light on the complex interplay between spin and charge in the Hubbard model.
Meixner polynomials in several variables satisfying bispectral difference equations

We construct a set M"d whose points parametrize families of Meixner polynomials in d variables. There is a natural bispectral involution b on M"d which corresponds to a symmetry between the variables and the degree indices of the polynomials. We define two sets of d commuting partial difference operators diagonalized by the polynomials. One of the sets consists of difference operators acting on the variables of the polynomials and the other one on their degree indices, thus proving their bispectrality. The two sets of partial difference operators are naturally connected via the involution b.
Topological Dirac semimetal Na3Bi films in the ultrathin limit via alternating layer molecular beam epitaxy

Ultrathin films of Na3Bi on insulating substrates are desired for opening a bulk bandgap and generating the quantum spin Hall effect from a topological Dirac semimetal, though continuous films in the few nanometer regime have been difficult to realize. Here, we utilize alternating layer molecular beam epitaxy to achieve uniform and continuous single-crystal films of Na3Bi(0001) on insulating Al2O3(0001) substrates and demonstrate electrical transport on films with 3.8 nm thickness (4 unit cells). The high material quality is confirmed through reflection high-energy electron diffraction, scanning tunneling microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
Phenomenological Implications of the Nucleon’s Meson Cloud

The long-distance structure of the interacting nucleon receives important contributions from its couplings to light hadronic degrees of freedom—a light meson cloud—while an analogous nonperturbative mechanism is expected to generate an intrinsic charm (IC) component to the proton wavefunction. We investigate both possibilities, keeping for the former a special eye to improving the theoretical understanding of the pion-nucleon vertex in light of proposed measurements. Regarding the latter possibility of IC, we highlight recent results obtained by a global QCD analysis of the light-front model proposed in Hobbs et al. (Phys Rev D 89:074008, 2014).
SUB-PARSEC SUPERMASSIVE BINARY QUASARS: EXPECTATIONS AT z < 1

We investigate the theoretical expectations for detections of supermassive binary black holes that can be identified as sub-parsec luminous quasars. To date, only two candidates have been selected in a sample comprising 17,500 sources selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar Catalog at z 2000 kms) at z < 0.7, which represent a fraction ~6 × 10–4 of unabsorbed quasars in our theoretical sample. In a complete sample of ~10,000 sources, we therefore predict an upper limit of ~10 sub-parsec binary quasars. The number of binaries increases rapidly with increasing redshift. The decreasing lifetime with SMBH binary mass suggests that lowering the luminosity threshold does not lead to a significant increase in the number of detectable sub-parsec binary quasars.
Symmetrical Multilevel Diversity Coding and Subset Entropy Inequalities

Symmetrical multilevel diversity coding (SMDC) is a classical model for coding over distributed storage. In this setting, a simple separate encoding strategy known as superposition coding was shown to be optimal in terms of achieving the minimum sum rate and the entire admissible rate region of the problem. The proofs utilized carefully constructed induction arguments, for which the classical subset entropy inequality played a key role. This paper consists of two parts. In the first part, the existing optimality proofs for classical SMDC are revisited, with a focus on their connections to subset entropy inequalities. Initially, a new sliding-window subset entropy inequality is introduced and then used to establish the optimality of superposition coding for achieving the minimum sum rate under a weaker source-reconstruction requirement. Finally, a subset entropy inequality recently proved by Madiman and Tetali is used to develop a new structural understanding of the work of Yeung and Zhang on the optimality of superposition coding for achieving the entire admissible rate region. Building on the connections between classical SMDC and the subset entropy inequalities developed in the first part, in the second part the optimality of superposition coding is extended to the cases where there is either an additional all-access encoder or an additional secrecy constraint.
Two-Qubit Spectroscopy of Spatiotemporally Correlated Quantum Noise in Superconducting Qubits

The spectrum of correlated quantum noise affecting a two-qubit system is determined using a robust estimation scheme that relies only on single-qubit measurements
Pochhammer symbol with negative indices. A new rule for the method of brackets

The method of brackets is a method of integration based upon a small number of heuristic rules. Some of these have been made rigorous. An example of an integral involving the Bessel function is used to motivate a new evaluation rule.
Gravity-mediated dark matter annihilation in the Randall-Sundrum model

Observational evidence for dark matter stems from its gravitational interactions, and as of yet there has been no evidence for dark matter interacting via other means. We examine models where dark matter interactions are purely gravitational in a Randall-Sundrum background. In particular, the Kaluza-Klein tower of gravitons which result from the warped fifth dimension can provide viable annihilation channels into Standard Model final states, and we find that we can achieve values of the annihilation cross section, 〈σv〉, which are consistent with the observed relic abundance in the case of spin-1 dark matter. We examine constraints on these models employing both the current photon line and continuum indirect dark matter searches, and assess the prospects of hunting for the signals of such models in future direct and indirect detection experiments.
Collaborative applications over peer-to-peer systems–challenges and solutions

Emerging collaborative Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems require discovery and utilization of diverse, multi-attribute, distributed, and dynamic groups of resources to achieve greater tasks beyond conventional file and processor cycle sharing. Collaborations involving application specific resources and dynamic quality of service goals are stressing current P2P architectures. Salient features and desirable characteristics of collaborative P2P systems are highlighted. Resource advertising, selecting, matching, and binding, the critical phases in these systems, and their associated challenges are reviewed using examples from distributed collaborative adaptive sensing systems, cloud computing, and mobile social networks. State-of-the-art resource discovery/aggregation solutions are compared with respect to their architecture, lookup overhead, load balancing, etc., to determine their ability to meet the goals and challenges of each critical phase. Incentives, trust, privacy, and security issues are also discussed, as they will ultimately determine the success of a collaborative P2P system. Open issues and research opportunities that are essential to achieve the true potential of collaborative P2P systems are discussed.
Photon Splitting and Pair Conversion in Strong Magnetic Fields

The magnetospheres of neutron stars provide a valuable testing ground for as‐yet unverified theoretical predictions of quantum electrodynamics (QED) in strong electromagnetic fields. Exhibiting magnetic field strengths well in excess of a TeraGauss, such compact astrophysical environments permit the action of exotic mechanisms that are forbidden by symmetries in field‐free regions. Foremost among these processes are single‐photon pair creation, where a photon converts to an electron‐positron pair, and magnetic photon splitting, where a single photon divides into two of lesser energy via the coupling to the external field. The pair conversion process is exponentially small in weak fields, and provides the leading order contribution to vacuum polarization. In contrast, photon splitting possesses no energy threshold and can operate in kinematic regimes where the lower order pair conversion is energetically forbidden. This paper outlines some of the key physical aspects of these processes, and highlights their manifestation in neutron star magnetospheres. Anticipated observational signatures include profound absorption turnovers in pulsar spectra at gamma‐ray wavelengths. The shapes of these turnovers provide diagnostics on the possible action of pair creation and the geometrical locale of the photon emission region. There is real potential for the first confirmation of strong field QED with the new GLAST gamma‐ray mission, recently launched by NASA in June 2008. The suppression of pair creation by photon splitting and its implications for pulsars are also discussed.
Motion planning in tori

Let X be a subcomplex of the standard CW-decomposition of the n-dimensional torus. We exhibit an explicit optimal motion planning algorithm for X. This construction is used to calculate the topological complexity of complements of general position arrangements and Eilenberg-Mac Lane spaces associated to right-angled Artin groups.
On Spaces of Commuting Elements in Lie Groups

Abstract : The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new method of stabilizing spaces of homomorphisms Hom(pi, G) where pi is a certain choice of finitely generated group and G is a compact Lie group. The main results apply to the space of all ordered n-tuples of pairwise commuting elements in a compact Lie group G, denoted Hom(Zn,G), by assembling these spaces into a single space for all n or = 0. The resulting space denoted Comm(G) is an infinite dimensional analogue of a Stiefel manifold which can be regarded as the space, suitably topologized, of all finite ordered sets of generators for all finitely generated abelian subgroups of G. The methods are to develop the geometry and topology of the free associative monoid generated by a maximal torus of G, and to twist this free monoid into a space which approximates the space of all commuting n-tuples for all n, Comm(G), into a single space. Thus a new space Comm(G) is introduced which assembles the spaces Hom(Zn,G) into a single space for all positive integers n. Topological properties of Comm(G) are developed while the singular homology of this space is computed with coefficients in the ring of integers with the order of the Weyl group of G inverted. One application is that the cohomology of Hom(Zn,G) follows from that of Comm(G) for any cohomology theory. The results for singular homology of Comm(G) are given in terms of the tensor algebra generated by the reduced homology of a maximal torus. Applications to classical Lie groups as well as exceptional Lie groups are given. A stable decomposition of Comm(G) is also given here with a significantly finer stable decomposition to be given in the sequel to this paper along with extensions of these constructions to additional representation varieties. An appendix by V. Reiner is included which uses the results here concerning Comm(G) together with Molien's theorem to give the Hilbert-Poincare series of Comm(G).
Particle identification for Higgs physics at future electron-positron collider

Particle identification (PID) plays a key role in heavy-flavor physics in high-energy physics experiments. However, its impact on Higgs physics is still not clear. In this note, we will explore som...
Cavity electro-optics in thin-film lithium niobate for efficient microwave-to-optical transduction

Linking superconducting quantum devices to optical fibers via microwave-optical quantum transducers may enable large-scale quantum networks. For this application, transducers based on the Pockels electro-optic (EO) effect are promising for their direct conversion mechanism, high bandwidth, and potential for low-noise operation. However, previously demonstrated EO transducers require large optical pump power to overcome weak EO coupling and reach high efficiency. Here, we create an EO transducer in thin-film lithium niobate, a platform that provides low optical loss and strong EO coupling. We demonstrate on-chip transduction efficiencies of up to (2.7±0.3)×10−5 and (1.9±0.4)×10−6/µW of optical pump power. The transduction efficiency can be improved by further reducing the microwave resonator’s piezoelectric coupling to acoustic modes, increasing the optical resonator quality factor to previously demonstrated levels, and changing the electrode geometry for enhanced EO coupling. We expect that with further development, EO transducers in thin-film lithium niobate can achieve near-unity efficiency with low optical pump power.
Bayesian variable selection with shrinking and diffusing priors

We consider a Bayesian approach to variable selection in the presence of high dimensional covariates based on a hierarchical model that places prior distributions on the regression coefficients as well as on the model space. We adopt the well-known spike and slab Gaussian priors with a distinct feature, that is, the prior variances depend on the sample size through which appropriate shrinkage can be achieved. We show the strong selection consistency of the proposed method in the sense that the posterior probability of the true model converges to one even when the number of covariates grows nearly exponentially with the sample size. This is arguably the strongest selection consistency result that has been available in the Bayesian variable selection literature; yet the proposed method can be carried out through posterior sampling with a simple Gibbs sampler. Furthermore, we argue that the proposed method is asymptotically similar to model selection with the $L_{0}$ penalty. We also demonstrate through empirical work the fine performance of the proposed approach relative to some state of the art alternatives.
Introducing Hypergraph Signal Processing: Theoretical Foundation and Practical Applications

Signal processing over graphs has recently attracted significant attention for dealing with the structured data. Normal graphs, however, only model pairwise relationships between nodes and are not effective in representing and capturing some high-order relationships of data samples, which are common in many applications, such as Internet of Things (IoT). In this article, we propose a new framework of hypergraph signal processing (HGSP) based on the tensor representation to generalize the traditional graph signal processing (GSP) to tackle high-order interactions. We introduce the core concepts of HGSP and define the hypergraph Fourier space. We then study the spectrum properties of hypergraph Fourier transform (HGFT) and explain its connection to mainstream digital signal processing. We derive the novel hypergraph sampling theory and present the fundamentals of hypergraph filter design based on the tensor framework. We present HGSP-based methods for several signal processing and data analysis applications. Our experimental results demonstrate significant performance improvement using our HGSP framework over some traditional signal processing solutions.
Properties of Type-Ia Supernova Light Curves

I show that the characteristic diffusion timescale and the gamma-ray escape timescale, of SN Ia ejecta, are related with each other through the time when the bolometric luminosity, L bol, intersects with instantaneous radioactive decay luminosity, L γ , for the second time after the light-curve peak. Analytical arguments, numerical radiation-transport calculations, and observational tests show that L bol generally intersects L γ at roughly 1.7 times the characteristic diffusion timescale of the ejecta. This relation implies that the gamma-ray escape timescale is typically 2.7 times the diffusion timescale, and also implies that the bolometric luminosity 15 days after the peak, L bol(t 15), must be close to the instantaneous decay luminosity at that time, L γ (t 15). With the employed calculations and observations, the accuracy of L bol = L γ at t = t 15 is found to be comparable to the simple version of "Arnett's rule" (L bol = L γ at t = t peak). This relation aids the interpretation of SN Ia light curves and may also be applicable to general hydrogen-free explosion scenarios powered by other central engines.
Mechanisms Leading to a Warmer Climate on High-obliquity Planets

A consistent finding of high obliquity simulations is that they are warmer than their low obliquity counterparts when the climate is cold. Ice-albedo feedback has been suggested as a possible mechanism. In this study, we find that warmer climate under high obliquity holds with varying insolations, including almost ice-free conditions. We try to understand the mechanisms through a series of feedback suppression experiments. Turning off the ice-albedo feedback, the temperature contrast between high and low obliquity remains significant, but it vanishes when the cloud radiation effects or the seasonal variation is turned off. This suggests the warmer climate on high obliquity planets does not rely completely on the existence of ice, and therefore holds at high insolation. In that regime, the surface temperature, and hence the cloud formation, lags behind the substellar point, leading to inefficient sunlight reflection and warmer climate.
The motivic zeta functions of a matroid

We introduce motivic zeta functions for matroids. These zeta functions are defined as sums over the lattice points of Bergman fans, and in the realizable case, they coincide with the motivic Igusa zeta functions of hyperplane arrangements. We show that these motivic zeta functions satisfy a functional equation arising from matroid Poincare duality in the sense of Adiprasito-Huh-Katz. In the process, we obtain a formula for the Hilbert series of the cohomology ring of a matroid, in the sense of Feichtner-Yuzvinsky. We then show that our motivic zeta functions specialize to the topological zeta functions for matroids introduced by van der Veer, and we compute the first two coefficients in the Taylor expansion of these topological zeta functions, providing affirmative answers to two questions posed by van der Veer.
Generating families and Legendrian contact homology in the standard contact space

We show that if a Legendrian knot in standard contact ${\bb R}^3$ possesses a generating family then there exists an augmentation of the Chekanov-Eliashberg DGA so that the associated linearized contact homology (LCH) is isomorphic to singular homology groups arising from the generating family. In this setting we show Sabloff's duality result for LCH may be viewed as Alexander duality. In addition, we provide an explicit construction of a generating family for a front diagram with graded normal ruling and give a new approach to augmentation $\Rightarrow$ normal ruling.
High-Efficiency, Wideband GRIN Lenses With Intrinsically Matched Unit Cells

We present an automated design procedure for the rapid realization of wideband millimeter-wave lens antennas. The design method is based upon the creation of a library of matched unit cells that comprise wideband impedance matching sections on either side of a phase-delaying core section. The phase accumulation and impedance match of each unit-cell is characterized over frequency and incident angle. The lens is divided into rings, each of which is assigned an optimal unit cell based on incident angle and required local phase correction given that the lens must collimate the incident wavefront. A unit-cell library for a given realizable permittivity range, lens thickness, and unit-cell stack-up can be used to design a wide variety of flat wideband lenses for various diameters, feed elements, and focal distances. A demonstration GRadient INdex (GRIN) lens antenna is designed, fabricated, and measured in both far-field and near-field chambers. The antenna functions as intended from 14 to 40GHz and is therefore suitable for all proposed 5G MMW bands, $Ku$ - and $Ka$ -band fixed satellite services. The use of intrinsically matched unit cells results in aperture efficiency ranging from 31% to 72% over the 2.9:1 bandwidth which is the highest aperture efficiency demonstrated across such a wide operating band.
Gyroscopic Pumping in the Solar Near-Surface Shear Layer

We use global and local helioseismic inversions to explore the prevailing dynamical balances in the solar near-surface shear layer (NSSL). The differential rotation and meridional circulation are intimately linked, with a common origin in the turbulent stresses of the upper solar convection zone. The existence and structure of the NSSL cannot be attributed solely to the conservation of angular momentum by solar surface convection, as is often supposed. Rather, the turbulent angular momentum transport accounts for the poleward meridional flow while the often overlooked meridional force balance is required to maintain the mid-latitude rotational shear. We suggest that the base of the NSSL is marked by a transition from baroclinic to turbulent stresses in the meridional plane which suppress Coriolis-induced circulations that would otherwise establish a cylindrical rotation profile. The turbulent angular momentum transport must be nondiffusive and directed radially inward. Inferred mean flows are consistent with the idea that turbulent convection tends to mix angular momentum but only if the mixing efficiency is inhomogeneous and/or anisotropic. The latitudinal and longitudinal components of the estimated turbulent transport are comparable in amplitude and about an order of magnitude larger than the vertical component. We estimate that it requires 2%-4% of the more » solar luminosity to maintain the solar NSSL against the inertia of the mean flow. Most of this energy is associated with the turbulent transport of angular momentum out of the layer, with a spin-down timescale of {approx}600 days. We also address implications of these results for numerical modeling of the NSSL. « less
Segmentation of the Proximal Femur from MR Images using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been proposed as a complimentary method to measure bone quality and assess fracture risk. However, manual segmentation of MR images of bone is time-consuming, limiting the use of MRI measurements in the clinical practice. The purpose of this paper is to present an automatic proximal femur segmentation method that is based on deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs). This study had institutional review board approval and written informed consent was obtained from all subjects. A dataset of volumetric structural MR images of the proximal femur from 86 subjects were manually-segmented by an expert. We performed experiments by training two different CNN architectures with multiple number of initial feature maps, layers and dilation rates, and tested their segmentation performance against the gold standard of manual segmentations using four-fold cross-validation. Automatic segmentation of the proximal femur using CNNs achieved a high dice similarity score of 0.95 ± 0.02 with precision = 0.95 ± 0.02, and recall = 0.95 ± 0.03. The high segmentation accuracy provided by CNNs has the potential to help bring the use of structural MRI measurements of bone quality into clinical practice for management of osteoporosis.
Beyond ECH capacities

ECH (embedded contact homology) capacities give obstructions to symplectically embedding one four-dimensional symplectic manifold with boundary into another. These obstructions are known to be sharp when the domain and target are ellipsoids (proved by McDuff), and more generally when the domain is a “concave toric domain” and the target is a “convex toric domain” (proved by Cristofaro-Gardiner). However ECH capacities often do not give sharp obstructions, for example in many cases when the domain is a polydisk. This paper uses more refined information from ECH to give stronger symplectic embedding obstructions when the domain is a polydisk, or more generally a convex toric domain. We use these new obstructions to reprove a result of Hind-Lisi on symplectic embeddings of a polydisk into a ball, and generalize this to obstruct some symplectic embeddings of a polydisk into an ellipsoid. We also obtain a new obstruction to symplectically embedding one polydisk into another, in particular proving the four-dimensional case of a conjecture of Schlenk.
Quantification of mixing in vesicle suspensions using numerical simulations in two dimensions

We study mixing in Stokesian vesicle suspensions in two dimensions on a cylindrical Couette apparatus using numerical simulations. The vesicle flow simulation is done using a boundary integral method, and the advection-diffusion equation for the mixing of the solute is solved using a pseudo-spectral scheme. We study the effect of the area fraction, the viscosity contrast between the inside (the vesicles) and the outside (the bulk) fluid, the initial condition of the solute, and the mixing metric. We compare mixing in the suspension with mixing in the Couette apparatus without vesicles. On the one hand, the presence of vesicles in most cases slightly suppresses mixing. This is because the solute can be only diffused across the vesicle interface and not advected. On the other hand, there exist spatial distributions of the solute for which the unperturbed Couette flow completely fails to mix whereas the presence of vesicles enables mixing. We derive a simple condition that relates the velocity and solute and can be used to characterize the cases in which the presence of vesicles promotes mixing.
Isgur-Wise function on the lattice

Abstract We review our method and numerical results for calculation of the Isgur-Wise function on the lattice. We present a discussion of the systematic errors. Using recent experimental results, we find Vcb = 0.044 ± 0.005 ± .007.
Combinatorial random knots

We explore free knot diagrams, which are projections of knots into the plane which don’t record over/under data at crossings. We consider the combinatorial question of which free knot diagrams give which knots and with what probability. Every free knot diagram is proven to produce trefoil knots, and certain simple families of free knots are completely worked out. We make some conjectures (supported by computer-generated data) about bounds on the probability of a knot arising from a fixed free diagram being the unknot, trefoil, or figure-eight knot.
Structure of bacterial phospholipid transporter MlaFEDB with substrate bound

In double-membraned bacteria, phospholipid transport across the cell envelope is critical to maintain the outer membrane barrier, which plays a key role in virulence and antibiotic resistance. An MCE transport system called Mla has been implicated in phospholipid trafficking and outer membrane integrity, and includes an ABC transporter, MlaFEDB. The transmembrane subunit, MlaE, has minimal sequence similarity to other transporters, and the structure of the entire inner-membrane MlaFEDB complex remains unknown. Here, we report the cryo-EM structure of MlaFEDB at 3.05 A resolution, revealing distant relationships to the LPS and MacAB transporters, as well as the eukaryotic ABCA/ABCG families. A continuous transport pathway extends from the MlaE substrate-binding site, through the channel of MlaD, and into the periplasm. Unexpectedly, two phospholipids are bound to MlaFEDB, suggesting that multiple lipid substrates may be transported each cycle. Our structure provides mechanistic insight into substrate recognition and transport by MlaFEDB.
Practical Scheduling Algorithms With Contiguous Resource Allocation for Next-Generation Wireless Systems

This letter proposes three novel resource and user scheduling algorithms with contiguous frequency-domain resource allocation (FDRA) for wireless communications systems. The first proposed algorithm jointly schedules users and resources selected adaptively from both ends of the bandwidth part (BWP), while the second and third ones apply disjoint user and resource selection with either single-end or dual-end BWP strategies. Distinct from existing contiguous FDRA approaches, the proposed schemes comply with standards specifications for fifth-generation (5G) and beyond 5G communications, and have lower computational complexity hence are more practical. Simulation results show that all of the proposed algorithms can achieve near-optimal performance in terms of throughput and packet loss rate for low to moderate traffic load, and the first one can still perform relatively well even with a large number of users.
R&D investment intensity and jump volatility of stock price

This paper studies the important but unexplored relationship between R&D investment intensity and different components of stock price volatility. The total volatility of stock price is decomposed into a continuous component and a jump component. We find that firms with higher R&D investment intensity have less jump volatility of stock price. We explain the findings through a channel of stock liquidity and information disclosure. We argue that R&D-intensive firms prefer higher stock liquidity, and empirically document that they achieve higher stock liquidity by actively releasing R&D information. We apply a textual analysis technique and show that R&D-intensive firms voluntarily disclose more R&D information in 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K filings, resulting in higher stock liquidity and hence less jump volatility of stock price. The negative relationship between R&D investment intensity and jump volatility of stock price is more pronounced for financially constrained firms, which have stronger incentives to release R&D information and hence increase stock liquidity. Propensity-score matching approach and instrumental variable approach are used to address endogeneity. A rich set of robustness tests are conducted to confirm the findings.
An elementary approach to free entropy theory for convex potentials

We present an alternative approach to the theory of free Gibbs states with convex potentials. Instead of solving SDE's, we combine PDE techniques with a notion of asymptotic approximability by trace polynomials for a sequence of functions on $M_N(\mathbb{C})_{sa}^m$ to prove the following. Suppose $\mu_N$ is a probability measure on on $M_N(\mathbb{C})_{sa}^m$ given by uniformly convex and semi-concave potentials $V_N$, and suppose that the sequence $DV_N$ is asymptotically approximable by trace polynomials. Then the moments of $\mu_N$ converge to a non-commutative law $\lambda$. Moreover, the free entropies $\chi(\lambda)$, $\underline{\chi}(\lambda)$, and $\chi^*(\lambda)$ agree and equal the limit of the normalized classical entropies of $\mu_N$.
Towards the Avoidance of Counterfeit Memory: Identifying the DRAM Origin

Due to the globalization in the semiconductor supply chain, counterfeit dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips/modules have been spreading worldwide at an alarming rate. Deploying counterfeit DRAM modules into an electronic system can have severe consequences on security and reliability domains because of their sub-standard quality, poor performance, and shorter life span. Besides, studies suggest that a counterfeit DRAM can be more vulnerable to sophisticated attacks. However, detecting counterfeit DRAMs is very challenging because of their nature and ability to pass the initial testing. In this paper, we propose a technique to identify the DRAM origin (i.e., the origin of the manufacturer and the specification of individual DRAM) to detect and prevent counterfeit DRAM modules. A silicon evaluation shows that the proposed method reliably identifies off-the-shelf DRAM modules from three major manufacturers.
A Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach for a Distributed Energy Marketplace in Smart Grids

This paper presents a Reinforcement Learning (RL) based energy market for a prosumer dominated microgrid. The proposed market model facilitates a real-time and demand-dependent dynamic pricing environment, which reduces grid costs and improves the economic benefits for prosumers. Furthermore, this market model enables the grid operator to leverage prosumers’ storage capacity as a dispatchable asset for grid support applications. Simulation results based on the Deep Q-Network (DQN) framework demonstrate significant improvements of the 24-hour accumulative profit for both prosumers and the grid operator, as well as major reductions in grid reserve power utilization.