We must know. We will know

The after-dinner talk has by now become a tradition of this Conference series on Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum. On this occasion, I have tried to combine a free-style and (hopefully) amusing presentation with deep questions of physics especially connected with the dynamics of strong interaction. To this end some masterpieces of classical music (by Beethoven, Mozart, Dvorak, Stravinsky ...) and pop music (by Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton) were employed to illustrate certain aspects of physics. By no means was this presentation (nor this paper) intended as a comprehensive review of the different topics examined during the Conference, but rather a call for further thinking on the sinergy of different branches of physics and the excitement of foreseen discoveries in a not too distant future.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, After-dinner talk given at the IX Conference on Quark Confinement and the Hadron Structure, Madrid, August 30th to September 3rd 201

The Ellis semigroup of a nonautonomous discrete dynamical system

We introduce the {\it Ellis semigroup} of a nonautonomous discrete dynamical system $(X,f_{1,\infty})$ when $X$ is a metric compact space. The underlying set of this semigroup is the pointwise closure of \{f\sp{n}_1 \, |\, n\in \mathbb{N}\} in the space X\sp{X}. By using the convergence of a sequence of points with respect to an ultrafilter it is possible to give a precise description of the semigroup and its operation. This notion extends the classical Ellis semigroup of a discrete dynamical system. We show several properties that connect this semigroup and the topological properties of the nonautonomous discrete dynamical system

Traffic Sign Recognition System

The research group CAOS at the Computing Department of the Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain, offers an efficient recognition system for traffic signs using a set of classifiers. This system can be used as part of an active security system in cars. The fact that the system is based on a set of classifiers facilitates a distributed implementation, resulting in cheaper hardware and an improvement in fault-tolerance.Contrato Programa de Comercialización e Internacionalización. Sistema Regional de Investigación Científica e Innovación Tecnológica. (Comunidad de Madrid; Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Bottomonium Production at the Tevatron and the LHC

Inclusive bottomonium hadroproduction at the Tevatron is firstly examined in a Monte Carlo framework with the colour-octet mechanism implemented in the event generation. We extract some NRQCD colour-octet matrix elements relevant for $\Upsilon(1S)$ hadroproduction. Remarkably we find a quite small contribution (compatible with zero) from feeddown of $\chi_{bJ}$ states produced through the colour-octet mechanism: $\Upsilon(1S)$ indirect production via $\chi_{bJ}$ decays should be mainly ascribed to the colour-singlet model. Finally we extrapolate to LHC energies to predict prompt $\Upsilon(1S)$ production rates.Comment: LaTeX, 11 pages, 6 EPS figure

Shannon Entropy as Characterization Tool in Acoustics

We introduce Shannon's information entropy to characterize the avoided crossing appearing in the resonant Zener-like phenomenon in ultrasonic superlattices made of two different fluidlike meta- materials. We show that Shannon's entropy gives a correct physical insight of the localization effects taking place and manifest the informational exchange of the involved acoustic states in the narrow region of parameters where the avoided crossing occurs. Results for ultrasonic structures consisting of alternating layers of methyl-metacrylate and water cavities, in which the acoustic Zener effect were recently demonstrated, are also reported.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let