# Top arXiv papers

• We have identified several tens of extremely metal-poor star candidates from SDSS and LAMOST, which we follow-up with the 4.2m WHT telescope to confirm their metallicity.We follow a robust two-step methodology. We first analyze the SDSS and LAMOST spectra. A first set of stellar parameters is derived from these spectra with the FERRE code, taking advantage of the continuum shape to determine the atmospheric parameters, in particular, the effective temperature. Second, we select interesting targets for follow-up observations, some of them with very low-quality SDSS or LAMOST data. We then obtain and analyze higher-quality medium-resolution spectra obtained with ISIS on the WHT telescope to arrive at a second, more reliable, set of atmospheric parameters. This allows us to derive, with accuracy, the metallicity, and confirm the extremely metal-poor nature in most cases. In this second step we also employ FERRE, but we take a running mean to normalize both the observed and the synthetic spectra, and therefore the final parameters do not rely on having an accurate flux calibration or continuum placement. In order to verify our results we have analyzed with the same tools, and following the same procedure, six well-known metal-poor stars, five of them at [Fe/H]<-4, showing that our methodology is able to get accurate metallicity determinations down to [Fe/H]<-5.0. The results for these six reference stars give us confidence on the metallicity scale for the rest of the sample. In addition, we present 12 new extremely metal-poor candidates: two stars at [Fe/H]=-4$, six more in the range -4<[Fe/H]<-3.5, and four more at -3.5<[Fe/H]<-3.0. • We study the motion of massless test particles in a five dimensional (5D) Myers-Perry black hole spacetime with two spin parameters. The behaviour of the effective potential in view of different values of black hole parameters is discussed in the equatorial plane. The frequency shift of photons is calculated which is found to depend on the spin parameter of black hole and the observed redshift is discussed accordingly. The deflection angle and the strong deflection limit coefficients are also calculated and their behaviour with the spin parameters is analysed in detail. It is observed that the behaviour of both deflection angle and strong field coefficient differs from Kerr black hole spacetime in four dimensions (4D) in General Relativity (GR) mainly due to the presence of two spin parameters in higher dimension. • WASP-127b is one of the lowest density planets discovered to date. With a sub-Saturn mass ($M_{\rm p}=0.18 \pm 0.02 M_J$) and super-Jupiter radius ($R_{\rm p}= 1.37 \pm 0.04 R_J$), it orbits a bright G5 star, which is about to leave the main-sequence. We aim to explore WASP-127b's atmosphere in order to retrieve its main atmospheric components, and to find hints for its intriguing inflation and evolutionary history. We used the ALFOSC spectrograph at the NOT telescope to observe a low resolution ($R\sim330$, seeing limited) long-slit spectroscopic time series during a planetary transit, and present here the first transmission spectrum for WASP-127b. We find the presence of a strong Rayleigh slope at blue wavelengths and a hint of Na absorption, although the quality of the data does not allow us to claim a detection. At redder wavelengths the absorption features of TiO and VO are the best explanation to fit the data. Although higher signal-to-noise ratio observations are needed to conclusively confirm the absorption features, WASP-127b seems to posses a cloud-free atmosphere and is one of the best targets to perform further characterization studies in the near future. • We derive new bounds for moments of the error in the Sato-Tate law over families of elliptic curves. The novelty lies in establishing power savings instead of power of logarithm saving, as obtained in earlier works. As applications, we deduce new almost-all results for the said errors and a conditional Central Limit Theorem on the distribution of these errors. Our method builds on recent work by the second-named author and K. Sinha (arXiv:1705.04115) who derived a Central Limit Theorem on the distribution of the errors in the Sato-Tate law for families of cusp forms for the full modular group. • Phylogenetic models have polynomial parametrization maps. For time-reversible group-based models, Matsen studied the polynomial inequalities that characterize the joint probabilities in the image of these parametrizations. We employ this description for maximum likelihood estimation via numerical algebraic geometry. In particular, we explore an example where the maximum likelihood estimate does not exist, which would be difficult to discover without using algebraic methods. We also study the embedding problem for time-reversible group-based models, i.e. we identify which mutation matrices are matrix exponentials of rate matrices that are invariant under a group action. • We investigate entangled photon pair generation in a lossy microring resonator using an input-output formalism based on the work of Raymer and McKinstrie [1] and Alsing, et al. [2] that incorporates circulation factors that account for the multiple round trips of the fields within the cavity. We consider the nonlinear processes of spontaneous parametric down conversion and spontaneous four wave mixing, and we compute the generated biphoton signal-idler state from a single bus microring resonator, along with the generation, coincidence-to-accidental, and heralding efficiency rates. We compare these generalized results to those obtained by previous works employing the standard Langevin input-output formalism. In addition, we examine the entanglement of the biphoton state as a function of the microring resonator coupling and internal propagation loss parameters. • Asteroid families are valuable source of information to many asteroid-related re- searches, assuming a reliable list of their members could be obtained. However, as the number of known asteroids increases fast it becomes more and more difficult to obtain robust list of members of an asteroid family. Here we are proposing a new approach to deal with the problem, based on the well known Hierarchical Clustering Method (HCM). An additional step in the whole procedure is introduced in order to reduce a so-called chaining effect. The main idea is to prevent chaining through an al- ready identified interloper. We show that in this way a number of potential interlopers among family members is significantly reduced. Moreover, we developed an automatic on-line based portal to apply this procedure, i.e to generate a list of family members as well as a list of potential interlopers. The Asteroid Families Portal (AFP) is freely available to all interested researchers. • The exciting discovery of topological condensed matter systems has lately triggered a search for their photonic analogs, motivated by the possibility of robust backscattering-immune light transport. However, topological photonic phases have so far only been observed in photonic crystals and waveguide arrays, which are inherently physically wavelength scaled, hindering their application in compact subwavelength systems. In this letter, we tackle this problem by patterning the deep subwavelength resonant elements of metamaterials onto specific lattices, and create crystalline metamaterials that can develop complex nonlocal properties due to multiple scattering, despite their very subwavelength spatial scale that usually implies to disregard their structure. These spatially dispersive systems can support subwavelength topological phases, as we demonstrate at microwaves by direct field mapping. Our approach gives a straightforward tabletop platform for the study of photonic topological phases, and allows to envision applications benefiting the compactness of metamaterials and the amazing potential of topological insulators. • We count the number of submodules of an arbitrary module over a countable noetherian commutative ring. We give, along the way, a structural description of meager modules, which are defined as those that do not have the square of a simple module as subquotient, and deduce in particular a characterization of uniserial modules over commutative noetherian rings. • We develop two-dimensional Brownian dynamics simulations to examine the motion of disks under thermal fluctuations and Hookean forces. Our simulations are designed to be experimental-like, since the experimental conditions define the available time-scales which characterize the solution of Langevin equations. To define the fluid model and methodology, we explain the basics of the theory of Brownian motion applicable to quasi-twodimensional diffusion of optically-trapped microspheres. Using the data produced by the simulations, we propose an alternative methodology to calculate diffusion coefficients. We obtain that, using typical input parameters in video-microscopy experiments, the averaged values of the diffusion coefficient differ from the theoretical one less than a 1\%. • We give an overview of some of the main results from the theories of hypergeometric and basic hypergeometric series and integrals associated with root systems. In particular, we list a number of summations, transformations and explicit evaluations for such multiple series and integrals. We concentrate on such results which do not directly extend to the elliptic level. This text is a provisional version of a chapter on hypergeometric and basic hypergeometric series and integrals associated with root systems for volume 2 of the new Askey--Bateman project which deals with "Multivariable special functions". • The formation of vortices is usually considered to be the main mechanism of angular momentum disposal in superfluids. Recently, it was predicted that a superfluid can acquire angular momentum via an alternative, microscopic route -- namely, through interaction with rotating impurities, forming so-called `angulon quasiparticles' [Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 203001 (2015)]. The angulon instabilities correspond to transfer of a small number of angular momentum quanta from the impurity to the superfluid, as opposed to vortex instabilities, where angular momentum is quantized in units of$\hbar$per atom. Furthermore, since conventional impurities (such as molecules) represent three-dimensional (3D) rotors, the angular momentum transferred is intrinsically 3D as well, as opposed to a merely planar rotation which is inherent to vortices. Herein we show that the angulon theory can explain the anomalous broadening of the spectroscopic lines observed for CH$_3$and NH$_3$molecules in superfluid helium nanodroplets, thereby providing a fingerprint of the emerging angulon instabilities in experiment. • We study quantum integrable models solvable by the nested algebraic Bethe ansatz and possessing$\mathfrak{gl}(m|n)$-invariant$R$-matrix. We compute the norm of the Hamiltonian eigenstates. Using the notion of a generalized model we show that the square of the norm obeys a number of properties that uniquely fix it. We also show that a Jacobian of the system of Bethe equations obeys the same properties. In this way we prove a generalized Gaudin hypothesis for the norm of the Hamiltonian eigenstates. • In this paper, we give a complete characterization of Leavitt path algebras which are graded$\Sigma$-$V$rings, that is, rings over which direct sum of arbitrary copies of any graded simple module is graded injective. Specifically, we show that a Leavitt path algebra$L$over an arbitrary graph$E$is a graded$\Sigma$-$V$ring if and only if it is a subdirect product of matrix rings of arbitrary size but with finitely many non-zero entries over$K$or$K[x,x^{-1}]$with appropriate matrix gradings. When the graph$E$is finite, we show that$L$is a graded$\Sigma$-$V$ring$\Longleftrightarrow L$is graded directly-finite$\Longleftrightarrow L$has bounded index of nilpotence$\LongleftrightarrowL$is graded semi-simple. Examples are constructed showing that the equivalence of these properties in the preceding statement no longer holds when the graph$E$is infinite. We then characterize the Leavitt path algebras of arbitrary graphs which have bounded index of nilpotence. We also provide an alternative proof of a theorem of Vǎs \citeV describing Leavitt path algebras which are directly-finite. We conclude the paper by developing structure theory for graded regular graded self-injective rings and apply it in the context of Leavitt path algebras. We show that graded self-injective Leavitt path algebras are of graded type I and if the graphs are finite, these are precisely graded$\Sigma$-$V$Leavitt path algebras. • The ground state of the diatomic molecules in nature is inevitably bonding and its first excited state is antibonding. We demonstrate theoretically that for a pair of distant adatoms placed buried in 3D-Dirac semimetals, this natural order of the states can be reversed and antibonding ground state occurs at the lowest energy of the so-called bound states in the continuum. We propose experimental protocol with use of STM-tip to visualize the topographic map of the local density of states on the surface of the system to reveal the emerging Physics. • This work explores the Zn vacancy in ZnO using hybrid density functional theory calculations. The Zn vacancy is predicted to be an exceedingly deep polaronic acceptor that can bind a localized hole on each of the four nearest-neighbor O ions. The hole localization is accompanied by a distinct outward relaxation of the O ions, which leads to lower symmetry and reduced formation energy. Notably, we find that initial symmetry-breaking is required to capture this effect, which might explain the absence of polaronic hole localization in some previous hybrid density functional studies. We present a simple model to rationalize our findings with regard to the approximately equidistant thermodynamic charge-state transition levels. Furthermore, by employing a one-dimensional configuration coordinate model with parameters obtained from the hybrid density functional theory calculations, luminescence lineshapes were calculated. The results show that the isolated Zn vacancy is unlikely to be the origin of the commonly observed luminescence in the visible part of the emission spectrum from \textitn-type material, but rather the luminescence in the infrared region. • Light sterile neutrino oscillations can be partially or completely washed out at short-baseline experiments due to the breaking of neutrino production coherence. In this work we address this issue in sterile searches at$\nu$STORM, an experimental proposal for a beam of neutrinos from the decay of stored muons. We work with 3+1 and 3+2 models, the latter introducing CP violation at short-baselines. We find that decoherence effects are only relevant for sterile masses above$\Delta m^2 \gtrsim 10$eV$^2$, and that, even in that regime, we are able to place strong appearance bounds in such clean environments. In addition, the novel signatures of CP violation in the parameter space of interest can be identified with a significance of up to$\gtrsim 3 \sigma$. • In this paper, we analyze in depth a simplicial decomposition like algorithmic framework for large scale convex quadratic programming. In particular, we first propose two tailored strategies for handling the master problem. Then, we describe a few techniques for speeding up the solution of the pricing problem. We report extensive numerical experiments on both real portfolio optimization and general quadratic programming problems, showing the efficiency and robustness of the method when compared to Cplex. • The surface formation of NH3 and its deuterated isotopologues - NH2D, NHD2, and ND3 - is investigated at low temperatures through the simultaneous addition of hydrogen and deuterium atoms to nitrogen atoms in CO-rich interstellar ice analogues. The formation of all four ammonia isotopologues is only observed up to 15 K, and drops below the detection limit for higher temperatures. Differences between hydrogenation and deuteration yields result in a clear deviation from a statistical distribution in favour of deuterium enriched species. The data analysis suggests that this is due to a higher sticking probability of D atoms to the cold surface, a property that may generally apply to molecules that are formed in low temperature surface reactions. The results found here are used to interpret ammonia deuterium fractionation as observed in pre-protostellar cores. • In this paper we present a theorem that generalizes Sawyer's classic result about mixed weighted inequalities to the multilinear context. Let$\vec{w}=(w_1,...,w_m)$and$\nu = w_1^\frac{1}{m}...w_m^\frac{1}{m}$, the main result of the paper sentences that under different conditions on the weights we can obtain $$\Bigg\| \fracT(\vec f\,)(x)v\Bigg\|_L^\frac1m, ∞(\nu v^\frac1m) ≤C \ \prod_i=1^m\|f_i\|_L^1(w_i),$$ where$T$is a multilinear Calderón-Zygmund operator. To obtain this result we first prove it for the$m$-fold product of the Hardy-Littlewood maximal operator$M$, and also for$\mathcal{M}(\vec{f})(x)$: the multi(sub)linear maximal function introduced in \citeLOPTT. As an application we also prove a vector-valued extension to the mixed weighted weak-type inequalities of multilinear Calderón-Zygmund operators. • Recurrently coupled networks of inhibitory neurons robustly generate oscillations in the gamma band. Nonetheless, the corresponding Wilson-Cowan type firing rate equation for such an inhibitory population does not generate such oscillations without an explicit time delay. We show that this discrepancy is due to a voltage-dependent spike-synchronization mechanism inherent in networks of spiking neurons which is not captured by standard firing rate equations. Here we investigate an exact low-dimensional description for a network of heterogeneous canonical type-I inhibitory neurons which includes the sub-threshold dynamics crucial for generating synchronous states. In the limit of slow synaptic kinetics the spike-synchrony mechanism is suppressed and the standard Wilson-Cowan equations are formally recovered as long as external inputs are also slow. However, even in this limit synchronous spiking can be elicited by inputs which fluctuate on a time-scale of the membrane time-constant of the neurons. Our meanfield equations therefore represent an extension of the standard Wilson-Cowan equations in which spike synchrony is also correctly described. • The notions of generalized principal eigenvalue for linear second order elliptic operators in general domains introduced by Berestycki et al. \citeBNV,BR0,BR3 have become a very useful and important tool in analysis of partial differential equations. In this paper, we extend these notions for quasilinear operator of the form $$\CK_V[u]:=-\Delta_p u +Vu^p-1,\quad\quad u \geq0.$$ This operator is a natural generalization of self-adjoint linear operators. If$\O$is a smooth bounded domain, we already proved in \citeNV that the generalized principal eigenvalue coincides with the (classical) first eigenvalue of$\CK_V$. Here we investigate the relation between three types of the generalized principal eigenvalue for quasilinear operator on general smooth domain (possibly unbounded), which plays an important role in the investigation of their asymptotic properties. These results form the basis for the study of the simplicity of the generalized principal eigenvalues, the maximum principle and the spectrum of$\CK_V$. We further discuss applications of the notions by providing some examples. • We report a theoretical investigation of extremely high field transport in an emerging widebandgap material$\beta-Ga_2O_3$from first principles. The signature high-field effect explored here is impact ionization. Interaction between a ground-state electron and an excited electron is computed from the matrix elements of a screened Coulomb operator. Maximally localized Wannier functions (MLWF) are utilized in computing the electron-electron self-energy. A full-band Monte Carlo (FBMC) simulation is carried out incorporating the impact ionization rates, and electron-phonon scattering rates. Possibility of room temperature Bloch oscillations is predicted in bulk$\beta-Ga_2O_3$. This work brings out valuable insights on the impact ionization coefficient (IIC) of electrons in$\beta-Ga_2O_3$. The isolation of the Gamma point conduction band minimum by a significantly high energy from other satellite band pockets play a vital role in determining ionization coefficients. IICs are calculated for electric fields ranging up to 8 MV/cm for two different crystal directions. A Chynoweth ftting of the computed IICs is done to calibrate ionization models in device simulators. • May 26 2017 math.LO arXiv:1705.09202v1 We define a monoidal semantics for algebraic theories. The basis for the definition is provided by the analysis of the structural rules in the term calculus of algebraic languages. Models are described both explicitly, in a form that generalises the usual definition in sets; and from a category-theoretical point of view, as monoidal functors on suitable classifying categories. The semantics obtained includes as special cases both the semantics of ordinary algebraic theories in Cartesian categories, and the semantics of operads and multicategories over sets. • Water is the most important solvent in nature. It is a crucial issue to study interactions among water molecules. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is one of the most powerful tools to detect magnetic interactions for the structure analysis of a molecule with broad applications. But conventional NMR spectroscopy requires macroscopic sample quantities with hampers in investigating nanoscale structures. Through quantum control of a single spin quantum sensor, magnetic resonance spectroscopy of nanoscale organic molecules and single molecules has been achieved. However, the measurement of the dipolar interaction of nuclear spins within a molecule at nanoscale and the analysis of its structure remain a big challenge. Here we succeed in detecting the NMR spectrum from an ice crystal with (6-nanometer)$^3$detection volume. More importantly, the magnetic dipolar coupling between two proton nuclear spins of a water molecule was recorded. The resolved intra-molecule magnetic dipolar interactions are about 15 kHz and 33 kHz with spectral resolution at a few kHz. Analysis of the interaction-resolved NMR spectroscopy provides a spatial view of nanoscale ice crystal, from which the orientation of a water-molecule bond is derived and further the length of the bond can be got. This work enables NMR spectroscopy applications in single molecule structure analysis, provides a further tool for nanocrystalline and confined water research. • Results are presented for the time evolution of neutral fermions, initially in the normal phase, following the switch on of an attractive interaction. The dynamics are studied in the disordered phase close to the critical point, where the superfluid fluctuations are large. The analysis is conducted within a two-particle irreducible, large$N$approximation. The system is considered from the perspective of critical quenches where it is shown that the fluctuations follow universal model A dynamics. A signature of this universality is found in a singular correction to the fermion lifetime, given by a scaling form$t^{(3-d)/2}S_d(\varepsilon^2 t)$, where$d$is the spatial dimension,$t$is the time since the quench, and$\varepsilon$is the fermion energy. The singular behavior of the spectral density is interpreted as arising due to incoherent Andreev reflections off superfluid fluctuations. • The rational fixed point of a set functor is well-known to capture the behaviour of finite coalgebras. In this paper we consider functors on algebraic categories. For them the rational fixed point may no longer be a subcoalgebra of the final coalgebra. Inspired by Ésik and Maletti's notion of proper semiring, we introduce the notion of a proper functor. We show that for proper functors the rational fixed point is determined as the colimit of all coalgebras with a free finitely generated algebra as carrier and it is a subcoalgebra of the final coalgebra. Moreover, we prove that a functor is proper if and only if that colimit is a subcoalgebra of the final coalgebra. These results serve as technical tools for soundness and completeness proofs for coalgebraic regular expression calculi, e.g. for weighted automata. • Drift effects play a significant role in the transport of charged particles in the heliosphere. A turbulent magnetic field is also known to reduce the effects of particle drifts. The exact nature of this reduction, however, is not clear. This study aims to provide some insight into this reduction, and proposes a relatively simple, tractable means of modelling it that provides results in reasonable agreement with numerical simulations of the drift coefficient in a turbulent magnetic field. • The decay path of the Hoyle state in$^{12}$C ($E_x=7.654\textrm{MeV}$) has been studied with a$^{14}\textrm{N}(\textrm{d},\alpha_2)^{12}\textrm{C}(7.654)$reaction induced at$10.5\textrm{MeV}$. High resolution invariant mass spectroscopy techniques have allowed to unambiguously disentangle direct and sequential decays of the state passing through the ground state of$^{8}$Be. Thanks to the almost total absence of background and the attained resolution, a fully sequential decay contribution to the width of the state has been observed. The direct decay width is negligible, with an upper limit of$0.042\%$($95\%$C.L.). The precision of this result is about one order of magnitude higher than previous studies. This has significant implications on stellar nucleosynthesis as it provides stringent constraints on triple-$\alpha$rate calculations in stars at temperatures$T<10^8 \textrm{K}$. • A$\Bbbk$-configuration is a set of points$\mathbb{X}$in$\mathbb{P}^2$that satisfies a number of geometric conditions. Associated to a$\Bbbk$-configuration is a sequence$(d_1,\ldots,d_s)$of positive integers, called its type, which encodes many of its homological invariants. We distinguish$\Bbbk$-configurations by counting the number of lines that contain$d_s$points of$\mathbb{X}$. In particular, we show that for all integers$m \gg 0$, the number of such lines is precisely the value of$\Delta \mathbf{H}_{m\mathbb{X}}(m d_s -1)$. Here,$\Delta \mathbf{H}_{m\mathbb{X}}(-)$is the first difference of the Hilbert function of the fat points of multiplicity$m$supported on$\mathbb{X}$. • We prove that every Diophantine quadruple in$\mathbb{R}[X]$is regular. More precisely, we prove that if$\{a, b, c, d\}$is a set of four non-zero polynomials from$\mathbb{R}[X]$, not all constant, such that the product of any two of its distinct elements increased by$1$is a square of a polynomial from$\mathbb{R}[X]$, then $$(a+b-c-d)^2=4(ab+1)(cd+1).$$ One consequence of this result is that there does not exist a set of four non-zero polynomials from$\mathbb{Z}[X]$, not all constant, such that a product of any two of them increased by a positive integer$n$, which is not a perfect square, is a square of a polynomial from$\mathbb{Z}[X]$. Our result also implies that there does not exist a set of five non-zero polynomials from$\mathbb{Z}[X]$, not all constant, such that a product of any two of them increased by a positive integer$n$, which is a perfect square, is a square of a polynomial from$\mathbb{Z}[X]$. • We report discovery of a topological Mott insulator in strongly-correlated Dirac semimetals. Such an interaction-driven topological state has been theoretically proposed but not yet observed with unbiased large scale numerical simulations. In our model, interactions between electrons are mediated by Ising spins in a transverse field. The results indicate that the topological mass term is dynamically generated and the resulting quantum phase transition belongs to the (2+1)D$N=8$chiral Ising universality class. These conclusions stem from large scale sign free quantum Monte Carlo simulations. • We show that the jet power$P_j$and geometrically corrected$\gamma$-ray luminosity$L_\gamma$for the X-ray binaries (XRBs) Cygnus X-1, Cygnus X-3, and V404 Cygni, and$\gamma$-ray upper limits for GRS 1915+105 and GX339-4, follow the universal scaling for the energetics of relativistic jets from black hole (BH) systems found by Nemmen et al. (2012) for blazars and GRBs. The observed peak$\gamma$-ray luminosity for XRBs is geometrically corrected; and the minimum jet power is estimated from the peak flux density of radio flares and the flare rise time. The$L_\gamma-P_j$correlation holds across$\sim 17$orders of magnitude. The correlation suggests a jet origin for the high energy emission from X-ray binaries, and indicates a common mechanism or efficiency for the high energy emission 0.1-100 GeV from all relativistic BH systems. • The LHCb has measured the ratios of$B\to K^\ast\mu^+\mu^-$to$B\to K^\ast e^+ e^-$branching fractions in two dilepton invariant mass squared bins, which deviate from the Standard Model predictions by approximately$2.5\sigma$. These new measurements strengthen the hint of lepton flavor universality breaking which was observed earlier in$B\to K\ell^+\ell^-$decays. In this work we explore the possibility of explaining these anomalies within the framework of$R$-parity violating interactions. In this framework,$b\to s\ell^+\ell^-$transitions are generated through tree and one loop diagrams involving exchange of down-type right-handed squarks, up-type left-handed squarks and left-handed sneutrinos. We find that the tree level contributions are not enough to explain the anomalies, but at one loop, simultaneous explanation of the deviations in$B\to K^\ast\ell^+\ell^-$and$B\to K\ell^+\ell^-$is feasible for a parameter space of the Yukawa couplings that is consistent with the bounds coming from$B\to K^{(\ast)}\nu\bar{\nu}$and$D^0\to \mu^+\mu^-$decays and$B_s-\bar{B}_s$mixing. • We consider the gap creation problem in an antidot graphene lattice, i.e. a sheet of graphene with periodically distributed obstacles. We prove several spectral results concerning the size of the gap and its dependence on different natural parameters related to the antidot lattice. • The existence of a second Higgs doublet in Nature could lead to a cosmological first order electroweak phase transition and explain the origin of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Universe. We explore the parameter space of such a two-Higgs-doublet-model and show that a first order electroweak phase transition strongly correlates with a significant uplifting of the Higgs vacuum w.r.t. its Standard Model value. We then obtain the spectrum and properties of the new scalars$H_0$,$A_0$and$H^{\pm}$that signal such a phase transition, showing that the decay$A_0 \rightarrow H_0 Z$at the LHC and a sizable deviation in the Higgs self-coupling$\lambda_{hhh}$from its SM value are sensitive indicators of a strongly first order electroweak phase transition in the 2HDM. • New system for i-vector speaker recognition based on variational autoencoder (VAE) is investigated. VAE is a promising approach for developing accurate deep nonlinear generative models of complex data. Experiments show that VAE provides speaker embedding and can be effectively trained in an unsupervised manner. LLR estimate for VAE is developed. Experiments on NIST SRE 2010 data demonstrate its correctness. Additionally, we show that the performance of VAE-based system in the i-vectors space is close to that of the diagonal PLDA. Several interesting results are also observed in the experiments with$\beta$-VAE. In particular, we found that for$\beta\ll 1$, VAE can be trained to capture the features of complex input data distributions in an effective way, which is hard to obtain in the standard VAE ($\beta=1$). • Solid state astrochemical reaction pathways have the potential to link the formation of small nitrogen-bearing species, like NH3 and HNCO, and prebiotic molecules, specifically amino acids. To date, the chemical origin of such small nitrogen containing species is still not well understood, despite the fact that ammonia is an abundant constituent of interstellar ices toward young stellar objects and quiescent molecular clouds. This is mainly because of the lack of dedicated laboratory studies. The aim of the present work is to experimentally investigate the formation routes of NH3 and HNCO through non-energetic surface reactions in interstellar ice analogues under fully controlled laboratory conditions and at astrochemically relevant temperatures. This study focuses on the formation of NH3 and HNCO in CO-rich (non-polar) interstellar ices that simulate the CO freeze-out stage in dark interstellar cloud regions, well before thermal and energetic processing start to become relevant. We demonstrate and discuss the surface formation of solid HNCO through the interaction of CO molecules with NH radicals - one of the intermediates in the formation of solid NH3 upon sequential hydrogenation of N atoms. The importance of HNCO for astrobiology is discussed. • The dynamics of transcendental functions in the complex plane has received a significant amount of attention. In particular much is known about the description of Fatou components. Besides the types of periodic Fatou components that can occur for polynomials, there also exist so-called Baker domains, periodic components where all orbits converge to infinity, as well as wandering domains. In trying to find analogues of these one dimensional results, it is not clear which higher dimensional transcendental maps to consider. In this paper we find inspiration from the extensive work on the dynamics of complex Hénon maps. We introduce the family of transcendental Hénon maps, and study their dynamics, emphasizing the description of Fatou components. We prove that the classification of the recurrent invariant Fatou components is similar to that of polynomial Hénon maps, and we give examples of Baker domains and wandering domains. • Primordial black holes (PBHs) have long been suggested as a candidate for making up some or all of the dark matter in the Universe. Most of the theoretically possible mass range for PBH dark matter has been ruled out with various null observations of expected signatures of their interaction with standard astrophysical objects. However, current constraints are significantly less robust in the 20 M_sun < M_PBH < 100 M_sun mass window, which has received much attention recently, following the detection of merging black holes with estimated masses of ~30 M_sun by LIGO and the suggestion that these could be black holes formed in the early Universe. We consider the potential of advanced LIGO (aLIGO) operating at design sensitivity to probe this mass range by looking for peaks in the mass spectrum of detected events. To quantify the background, which is due to black holes that are formed from dying stars, we model the shape of the stellar-black-hole mass function and calibrate its amplitude to match the O1 results. Adopting very conservative assumptions about the PBH and stellar-black-hole merger rates, we show that ~5 years of aLIGO data can be used to detect a contribution of >20 M_sun PBHs to dark matter down to f_PBH<0.5 at >99.9% confidence level. Combined with other probes that already suggest tension with f_PBH=1, the obtainable independent limits from aLIGO will thus enable a firm test of the scenario that PBHs make up all of dark matter. • We extend our previous redshift space power spectrum code to the redshift space correlation function. Here we focus on the Gaussian Streaming Model (GSM). Again, the code accommodates a wide range of modified gravity and dark energy models. For the non-linear real space correlation function used in the GSM, we use the Fourier transform of the RegPT 1-loop matter power spectrum. We compare predictions of the GSM for a Vainshtein screened and Chameleon screened model as well as GR. These predictions are compared to the Fourier transform of the Taruya, Nishimichi and Saito (TNS) redshift space power spectrum model which is fit to N-Body data. We find very good agreement between the Fourier transform of the TNS model and the GSM predictions, with$\leq 6\%$deviations in the first two correlation function multipoles for all models for separations in$50$Mpc$/h \leq s \leq 180$Mpc/$h$. Excellent agreement is found in the differences between the modified gravity and GR multipole predictions for both approaches to the redshift space correlation function, highlighting their matched ability in picking up deviations from GR. We elucidate the timeliness of such non-standard templates at the dawn of stage-IV surveys and discuss necessary preparations and extensions needed for upcoming high quality data. • This paper studies the underlying combinatorial structure of a class of object rearrangement problems, which appear frequently in applications. The problems involve multiple, similar-geometry objects placed on a flat, horizontal surface, where a robot can approach them from above and perform pick-and-place operations to rearrange them. The paper considers both the case where the start and goal object poses overlap, and where they do not. For overlapping poses, the primary objective is to minimize the number of pick-and-place actions and then to minimize the distance traveled by the end-effector. For the non-overlapping case, the objective is solely to minimize the end-effector distance. While such problems do not involve all the complexities of general rearrangement, they remain computationally hard challenges in both cases. This is shown through two-way reductions between well-understood, hard combinatorial challenges and these rearrangement problems. The benefit of the reduction is that there are well studied algorithms for solving these well-established combinatorial challenges. These algorithms can be very efficient in practice despite the hardness results. The paper builds on these reduction results to propose an algorithmic pipeline for dealing with the rearrangement problems. Experimental evaluation shows that the proposed pipeline achieves high-quality paths with regards to the optimization objectives. Furthermore, it exhibits highly desirable scalability as the number of objects increases in both the overlapping and non-overlapping setups. • Real non-symmetric matrices may have either real or complex conjugate eigenvalues. These matrices can be seen to be pseudo-symmetric as$\eta M \eta^{-1} = M^t$, where the metric$\eta$could be secular (a constant matrix) or depending upon the matrix elements of$M$. Here, we construct ensembles of a large number$N$of pseudo-symmetric$n \times n$($n$large) matrices using${\cal N}(n(n+1)/2 \le {\cal N} \le n^2)$independent and identically distributed (iid) random numbers as their elements. Based on our numerical calculations, we conjecture that for these ensembles the Nearest Level Spacing Distributions (NLSDs:$p(s)$) are sub-Wigner as$p_{abc}(s)=a s e^{-bs^c} (0<c <2)$and the distributions of their eigenvalues fit well to$D(\epsilon)= A[\mbox{tanh}\{(\epsilon+B)/C \}-\mbox{tanh}\{(\epsilon-B)/C\}]$(exceptions also discussed). These sub-Wigner NLSD are encountered in Anderson metal-insulator transition and topological transitions in a Josephson junction. Interestingly,$p(s)$for$c=1$is called semi-Poisson and we show that it lies close to the form$p(s)=0.59 s K_0(0.45 s^2)$derived for the case of$2 \times 2$pseudo-symmetric matrix where the eigenvalues are most aptly conditionally real:$E_{1,2}=a \pm \sqrt{b^2-c^2}$which represent characteristic coalescing of eigenvalues in PT(Parity-Time)-symmetric systems. • Let$ R $be a$ d $-dimensional Cohen-Macaulay (CM) local ring of minimal multiplicity. Set$ S := R/({\bf f}) $, where$ {\bf f} := f_1,\ldots,f_c $is an$ R $-regular sequence. Suppose$ M $and$ N $are maximal CM$ S $-modules. It is shown that if$ \mathrm{Ext}_S^i(M,N) = 0 $for some$ (d+c+1) $consecutive values of$ i \geqslant 2 $, then$ \mathrm{Ext}_S^i(M,N) = 0 $for all$ i \geqslant 1 $. Moreover, if this holds true, then either$ \mathrm{projdim}_R(M) $or$ \mathrm{injdim}_R(N) $is finite. In addition, a counterpart of this result for Tor-modules is provided. Furthermore, we give a number of necessary and sufficient conditions for a CM local ring of minimal multiplicity to be regular or Gorenstein. These conditions are based on vanishing of certain Exts or Tors involving homomorphic images of syzygy modules of the residue field. • An$(r, \ell)$-partition of a graph$G$is a partition of its vertex set into$r$independent sets and$\ell$cliques. A graph is$(r, \ell)$if it admits an$(r, \ell)$-partition. A graph is well-covered if every maximal independent set is also maximum. A graph is$(r,\ell)$-well-covered if it is both$(r,\ell)$and well-covered. In this paper we consider two different decision problems. In the$(r,\ell)$-Well-Covered Graph problem ($(r,\ell)$WCG for short), we are given a graph$G$, and the question is whether$G$is an$(r,\ell)$-well-covered graph. In the Well-Covered$(r,\ell)$-Graph problem (WC$(r,\ell)$G for short), we are given an$(r,\ell)$-graph$G$together with an$(r,\ell)$-partition of$V(G)$into$r$independent sets and$\ell$cliques, and the question is whether$G$is well-covered. We classify most of these problems into P, coNP-complete, NP-complete, NP-hard, or coNP-hard. Only the cases WC$(r,0)$G for$r\geq 3$remain open. In addition, we consider the parameterized complexity of these problems for several choices of parameters, such as the size$\alpha$of a maximum independent set of the input graph, its neighborhood diversity, its clique-width, or the number$\ell$of cliques in an$(r, \ell)$-partition. In particular, we show that the parameterized problem of deciding whether a general graph is well-covered parameterized by$\alpha$can be reduced to the WC$(0,\ell)$G problem parameterized by$\ell$, and we prove that this latter problem is in XP but does not admit polynomial kernels unless$coNP \subseteq NP/poly$. • Hydroxylamine (NH2OH) is one of the potential precursors of complex pre-biotic species in space. Here we present a detailed experimental study of hydroxylamine formation through nitric oxide (NO) surface hydrogenation for astronomically relevant conditions. The aim of this work is to investigate hydroxylamine formation efficiencies in polar (water-rich) and non-polar (carbon monoxide-rich) interstellar ice analogues. A complex reaction network involving both final (N2O, NH2OH) and intermediate (HNO, NH2O, etc.) products is discussed. The main conclusion is that hydroxylamine formation takes place via a fast and barrierless mechanism and it is found to be even more abundantly formed in a water-rich environment at lower temperatures. In parallel, we experimentally verify the non-formation of hydroxylamine upon UV photolysis of NO ice at cryogenic temperatures as well as the non-detection of NC- and NCO-bond bearing species after UV processing of NO in carbon monoxide-rich ices. Our results are implemented into an astrochemical reaction model, which shows that NH2OH is abundant in the solid phase under dark molecular cloud conditions. Once NH2OH desorbs from the ice grains, it becomes available to form more complex species (e.g., glycine and beta-alanine) in gas phase reaction schemes. • In 1956, Bott in his celebrated paper on closed geodesics and Sturm intersection theory, proved an Index Iteration Formula for closed geodesics on Riemannian manifolds. Some years later, Ekeland improved this formula in the case of convex Hamiltonians and, in 1999, Long generalized the Bott iteration formula by putting in its natural symplectic context and constructing a very effective Index Theory. The literature about this formula is quite broad and the dynamical implications in the Hamiltonian world (e.g. existence, multiplicity, linear stability etc.) are enormous. Motivated by the recent discoveries on the stability properties of symmetric periodic solutions of singular Lagrangian systems, we establish a Bott-type iteration formula for dihedrally equivariant Lagrangian and Hamiltonian systems. We finally apply our theory for computing the Morse indices of the celebrated Chenciner and Montgomery figure-eight orbit for the planar three body problem in different equivariant spaces. Our last dynamical consequence is an hyperbolicity criterion for reversible Lagrangian systems. • Single-shot real-time characterization of optical waveforms with sub-picosecond resolution is essential for investigating various ultrafast optical dynamics. However, the finite temporal recording length of current techniques hinders comprehensive understanding of many intriguing ultrafast optical phenomena that evolve over a time scale much longer than their fine temporal details. Inspired by the space-time duality and by stitching of multiple microscopic images to achieve a larger field of view in the spatial domain, here a panoramic-reconstruction temporal imaging (PARTI) system is devised to scale up the temporal recording length without sacrificing the resolution. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, the PARTI system is applied to study the dynamic waveforms of slowly-evolved dissipative Kerr solitons in an ultrahigh-Q microresonator. Two 1.5-ns-long comprehensive evolution portraits are reconstructed with 740-fs resolution and dissipative Kerr soliton transition dynamics, in which a multiplet soliton state evolves into stable singlet soliton state, are depicted. • A statistical combination of searches is presented for massive resonances decaying to WW, WZ, ZZ, WH, and ZH boson pairs in proton-proton collision data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The data are taken at centre-of-mass energies of 8 and 13 TeV, corresponding to respective integrated luminosities of 19.7 and up to 2.7 inverse femtobarns. The results are interpreted in the context of heavy vector triplet and singlet models that mimic properties of composite-Higgs models predicting W' and Z' bosons decaying to WZ, WW, WH, and ZH bosons. A model with a bulk graviton that decays into WW and ZZ is also considered. This is the first combined search for WW, WZ, WH, and ZH resonances and yields lower limits on masses at 95% confidence level for W' and Z' singlets at 2.3 TeV, and for a triplet at 2.4 TeV. The limits on the production cross section of a narrow bulk graviton resonance with the curvature scale of the warped extra dimension k = 0.5, in the mass range of 0.6 to 4.0 TeV, are the most stringent published to date. • Innovation and entrepreneurship have a very special role to play in creating sustainable development in the world. Engineering design plays a major role in innovation. These are not new facts. However this added to the fact that in current time knowledge seem to increase at an exponential rate, growing twice every few months. This creates a need to have newer methods to innovate with very little scope to fall short of the expectations from customers. In terms of reliable designing, system design tools and methodologies have been very helpful and have been in use in most engineering industries for decades now. But traditional system design is rigorous and rigid. As we can see, we need an innovation system that should be rigorous and flexible at the same time. We take our inspiration from biosphere, where some of the most rugged yet flexible plants are creepers which grow to create mesh. In this thematic paper we shall explain our approach to system engineering which we call the MeMo (Mesh Model) that fuses the rigor of system engineering with the flexibility of agile methods to create a scheme that can give rise to reliable innovation in the high risk market of today. ### Recent comments Michael Tolan May 26 2017 18:41 UTC That's what I was thinking, thanks! Eddie Smolansky May 26 2017 05:23 UTC Updated summary [here](https://github.com/eddiesmo/papers). # How they made the dataset - collect youtube videos - automated filtering with yolo and landmark detection projects - crowd source final filtering (AMT - give 50 face images to turks and ask which don't belong) - quality control through s ...(continued) Felix Leditzky May 24 2017 20:43 UTC Yes, that's right, thanks! For (5), you use the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality$\left| \operatorname{tr}(X^\dagger Y) \right| \leq \sqrt{\operatorname{tr}(X^\dagger X)} \sqrt{\operatorname{tr}(Y^\dagger Y)}$for the Hilbert-Schmidt inner product$\langle X,Y\rangle := \operatorname{tr}(X^\dagger Y)$wi ...(continued) Michael Tolan May 24 2017 20:27 UTC Just reading over Eq (5) on P5 concerning the diamond norm. Should the last$\sigma_1$on the 4th line be replaced with a$\sigma_2\$? I think I can see how the proof is working but not entirely certain.

Noon van der Silk May 23 2017 11:15 UTC

I think this thread has reached it's end.

I've locked further comments, and I hope that the quantum computing community can thoughtfully find an approach to language that is inclusive to all and recognises the diverse background of all researchers, current and future.

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Varun Narasimhachar May 23 2017 02:14 UTC

While I would never want to antagonize my peers or to allow myself to assume they were acting irrationally, I do share your concerns to an extent. I worry about the association of social justice and inclusivity with linguistic engineering, virtual lynching, censorship, etc. (the latter phenomena sta

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Aram Harrow May 23 2017 01:30 UTC

I think you are just complaining about issues that arise from living with other people in the same society. If you disagree with their values, well, then some of them might have a negative opinion about you. If you express yourself in an aggressive way, and use words like "lynch" to mean having pe

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Steve Flammia May 23 2017 01:04 UTC

I agree with Noon that the discussion is becoming largely off topic for SciRate, but that it might still be of interest to the community to discuss this. I invite people to post thoughtful and respectful comments over at [my earlier Quantum Pontiff post][1]. Further comments here on SciRate will be

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Noon van der Silk May 23 2017 00:59 UTC

I've moderated a few comments on this post because I believe it has gone past useful discussion, and I'll continue to remove comments that I believe don't add anything of substantial value.

Thanks.

Aram Harrow May 22 2017 23:13 UTC

The problem with your argument is that no one is forcing anyone to say anything, or banning anything.

If the terms really were offensive or exclusionary or had other bad side effects, then it's reasonable to discuss as a community whether to keep them, and possibly decide to stop using them. Ther

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