Fractal Strings and Multifractal Zeta Functions

For a Borel measure on the unit interval and a sequence of scales that tend to zero, we define a one-parameter family of zeta functions called multifractal zeta functions. These functions are a first attempt to associate a zeta function to certain multifractal measures. However, we primarily show that they associate a new zeta function, the topological zeta function, to a fractal string in order to take into account the topology of its fractal boundary. This expands upon the geometric information garnered by the traditional geometric zeta function of a fractal string in the theory of complex dimensions. In particular, one can distinguish between a fractal string whose boundary is the classical Cantor set, and one whose boundary has a single limit point but has the same sequence of lengths as the complement of the Cantor set. Later work will address related, but somewhat different, approaches to multifractals themselves, via zeta functions, partly motivated by the present paper.Comment: 32 pages, 9 figures. This revised version contains new sections and figures illustrating the main results of this paper and recent results from others. Sections 0, 2, and 6 have been significantly rewritte

Algorithmic information and incompressibility of families of multidimensional networks

This article presents a theoretical investigation of string-based generalized representations of families of finite networks in a multidimensional space. First, we study the recursive labeling of networks with (finite) arbitrary node dimensions (or aspects), such as time instants or layers. In particular, we study these networks that are formalized in the form of multiaspect graphs. We show that, unlike classical graphs, the algorithmic information of a multidimensional network is not in general dominated by the algorithmic information of the binary sequence that determines the presence or absence of edges. This universal algorithmic approach sets limitations and conditions for irreducible information content analysis in comparing networks with a large number of dimensions, such as multilayer networks. Nevertheless, we show that there are particular cases of infinite nesting families of finite multidimensional networks with a unified recursive labeling such that each member of these families is incompressible. From these results, we study network topological properties and equivalences in irreducible information content of multidimensional networks in comparison to their isomorphic classical graph.Comment: Extended preprint version of the pape

Topological Subsystem Codes

We introduce a family of 2D topological subsystem quantum error-correcting codes. The gauge group is generated by 2-local Pauli operators, so that 2-local measurements are enough to recover the error syndrome. We study the computational power of code deformation in these codes, and show that boundaries cannot be introduced in the usual way. In addition, we give a general mapping connecting suitable classical statistical mechanical models to optimal error correction in subsystem stabilizer codes that suffer from depolarizing noise.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, explanations added, typos correcte

Relaxation dynamics of the toric code in contact with a thermal reservoir: Finite-size scaling in a low temperature regime

We present an analysis of the relaxation dynamics of finite-size topological qubits in contact with a thermal bath. Using a continuous-time Monte Carlo method, we explicitly compute the low-temperature nonequilibrium dynamics of the toric code on finite lattices. In contrast to the size-independent bound predicted for the toric code in the thermodynamic limit, we identify a low-temperature regime on finite lattices below a size-dependent crossover temperature with nontrivial finite-size and temperature scaling of the relaxation time. We demonstrate how this nontrivial finite-size scaling is governed by the scaling of topologically nontrivial two-dimensional classical random walks. The transition out of this low-temperature regime defines a dynamical finite-size crossover temperature that scales inversely with the log of the system size, in agreement with a crossover temperature defined from equilibrium properties. We find that both the finite-size and finite-temperature scaling are stronger in the low-temperature regime than above the crossover temperature. Since this finite-temperature scaling competes with the scaling of the robustness to unitary perturbations, this analysis may elucidate the scaling of memory lifetimes of possible physical realizations of topological qubits.Comment: 14 Pages, 13 figure

Dynamical correlations in the escape strategy of Influenza A virus

The evolutionary dynamics of human Influenza A virus presents a challenging theoretical problem. An extremely high mutation rate allows the virus to escape, at each epidemic season, the host immune protection elicited by previous infections. At the same time, at each given epidemic season a single quasi-species, that is a set of closely related strains, is observed. A non-trivial relation between the genetic (i.e., at the sequence level) and the antigenic (i.e., related to the host immune response) distances can shed light into this puzzle. In this paper we introduce a model in which, in accordance with experimental observations, a simple interaction rule based on spatial correlations among point mutations dynamically defines an immunity space in the space of sequences. We investigate the static and dynamic structure of this space and we discuss how it affects the dynamics of the virus-host interaction. Interestingly we observe a staggered time structure in the virus evolution as in the real Influenza evolutionary dynamics.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures; main paper for the supplementary info in arXiv:1303.595

Universality and Critical Phenomena in String Defect Statistics

The idea of biased symmetries to avoid or alleviate cosmological problems caused by the appearance of some topological defects is familiar in the context of domain walls, where the defect statistics lend themselves naturally to a percolation theory description, and for cosmic strings, where the proportion of infinite strings can be varied or disappear entirely depending on the bias in the symmetry. In this paper we measure the initial configurational statistics of a network of string defects after a symmetry-breaking phase transition with initial bias in the symmetry of the ground state. Using an improved algorithm, which is useful for a more general class of self-interacting walks on an infinite lattice, we extend the work in \cite{MHKS} to better statistics and a different ground state manifold, namely $\R P^2$, and explore various different discretisations. Within the statistical errors, the critical exponents of the Hagedorn transition are found to be quite possibly universal and identical to the critical exponents of three-dimensional bond or site percolation. This improves our understanding of the percolation theory description of defect statistics after a biased phase transition, as proposed in \cite{MHKS}. We also find strong evidence that the existence of infinite strings in the Vachaspati Vilenkin algorithm is generic to all (string-bearing) vacuum manifolds, all discretisations thereof, and all regular three-dimensional lattices.Comment: 62 pages, plain LaTeX, macro mathsymb.sty included, figures included. also available on http://starsky.pcss.maps.susx.ac.uk/groups/pt/preprints/96/96011.ps.g