A note on quantum algorithms and the minimal degree of epsilon-error polynomials for symmetric functions

The degrees of polynomials representing or approximating Boolean functions are a prominent tool in various branches of complexity theory. Sherstov recently characterized the minimal degree deg_{\eps}(f) among all polynomials (over the reals) that approximate a symmetric function f:{0,1}^n-->{0,1} up to worst-case error \eps: deg_{\eps}(f) = ~\Theta(deg_{1/3}(f) + \sqrt{n\log(1/\eps)}). In this note we show how a tighter version (without the log-factors hidden in the ~\Theta-notation), can be derived quite easily using the close connection between polynomials and quantum algorithms.Comment: 7 pages LaTeX. 2nd version: corrected a few small inaccuracie

Generalized Shortest Path Kernel on Graphs

We consider the problem of classifying graphs using graph kernels. We define a new graph kernel, called the generalized shortest path kernel, based on the number and length of shortest paths between nodes. For our example classification problem, we consider the task of classifying random graphs from two well-known families, by the number of clusters they contain. We verify empirically that the generalized shortest path kernel outperforms the original shortest path kernel on a number of datasets. We give a theoretical analysis for explaining our experimental results. In particular, we estimate distributions of the expected feature vectors for the shortest path kernel and the generalized shortest path kernel, and we show some evidence explaining why our graph kernel outperforms the shortest path kernel for our graph classification problem.Comment: Short version presented at Discovery Science 2015 in Banf

Analyticity of homogenized coefficients under Bernoulli perturbations and the Clausius-Mossotti formulas

This paper is concerned with the behavior of the homogenized coefficients associated with some random stationary ergodic medium under a Bernoulli perturbation. Introducing a new family of energy estimates that combine probability and physical spaces, we prove the analyticity of the perturbed homogenized coefficients with respect to the Bernoulli parameter. Our approach holds under the minimal assumptions of stationarity and ergodicity, both in the scalar and vector cases, and gives analytical formulas for each derivative that essentially coincide with the so-called cluster expansion used by physicists. In particular, the first term yields the celebrated (electric and elastic) Clausius-Mossotti formulas for isotropic spherical random inclusions in an isotropic reference medium. This work constitutes the first general proof of these formulas in the case of random inclusions.Comment: 47 page

On the asymptotic magnitude of subsets of Euclidean space

Magnitude is a canonical invariant of finite metric spaces which has its origins in category theory; it is analogous to cardinality of finite sets. Here, by approximating certain compact subsets of Euclidean space with finite subsets, the magnitudes of line segments, circles and Cantor sets are defined and calculated. It is observed that asymptotically these satisfy the inclusion-exclusion principle, relating them to intrinsic volumes of polyconvex sets.Comment: 23 pages. Version 2: updated to reflect more recent work, in particular, the approximation method is now known to calculate (rather than merely define) the magnitude; also minor alterations such as references adde

Cluster density functional theory for lattice models based on the theory of Mobius functions

Rosenfeld's fundamental measure theory for lattice models is given a rigorous formulation in terms of the theory of Mobius functions of partially ordered sets. The free-energy density functional is expressed as an expansion in a finite set of lattice clusters. This set is endowed a partial order, so that the coefficients of the cluster expansion are connected to its Mobius function. Because of this, it is rigorously proven that a unique such expansion exists for any lattice model. The low-density analysis of the free-energy functional motivates a redefinition of the basic clusters (zero-dimensional cavities) which guarantees a correct zero-density limit of the pair and triplet direct correlation functions. This new definition extends Rosenfeld's theory to lattice model with any kind of short-range interaction (repulsive or attractive, hard or soft, one- or multi-component...). Finally, a proof is given that these functionals have a consistent dimensional reduction, i.e. the functional for dimension d' can be obtained from that for dimension d (d'<d) if the latter is evaluated at a density profile confined to a d'-dimensional subset.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures, uses iopart.cls, as well as diagrams.sty (included

q-deformed fermion oscillators, zero-point energy and inclusion-exclusion principle

The theory of Fermion oscillators has two essential ingredients: zero-point energy and Pauli exclusion principle. We devlop the theory of the statistical mechanics of generalized q-deformed Fermion oscillator algebra with inclusion principle (i.e., without the exclusion principle), which corresponds to ordinary fermions with Pauli exclusion principle in the classical limit $q \to 1$. Some of the remarkable properties of this theory play a crucial role in the understanding of the q-deformed Fermions. We show that if we insist on the weak exclusion principle, then the theory has the expected low temperature limit as well as the correct classical q-limit.Comment: 10 pages, Latex, submitted to Physical Review