28,247 research outputs found
Simulating Population Protocols in Sub-Constant Time per Interaction
We consider the efficient simulation of population protocols. In the population model, we are given a system of n agents modeled as identical finite-state machines. In each step, two agents are selected uniformly at random to interact by updating their states according to a common transition function. We empirically and analytically analyze two classes of simulators for this model. First, we consider sequential simulators executing one interaction after the other. Key to the performance of these simulators is the data structure storing the agents\u27 states. For our analysis, we consider plain arrays, binary search trees, and a novel Dynamic Alias Table data structure. Secondly, we consider batch processing to efficiently update the states of multiple independent agents in one step. For many protocols considered in literature, our simulator requires amortized sub-constant time per interaction and is fast in practice: given a fixed time budget, the implementation of our batched simulator is able to simulate population protocols several orders of magnitude larger compared to the sequential competitors, and can carry out 2^50 interactions among the same number of agents in less than 400s
Communication Complexity of Cake Cutting
We study classic cake-cutting problems, but in discrete models rather than
using infinite-precision real values, specifically, focusing on their
communication complexity. Using general discrete simulations of classical
infinite-precision protocols (Robertson-Webb and moving-knife), we roughly
partition the various fair-allocation problems into 3 classes: "easy" (constant
number of rounds of logarithmic many bits), "medium" (poly-logarithmic total
communication), and "hard". Our main technical result concerns two of the
"medium" problems (perfect allocation for 2 players and equitable allocation
for any number of players) which we prove are not in the "easy" class. Our main
open problem is to separate the "hard" from the "medium" classes.Comment: Added efficient communication protocol for the monotone crossing
proble
State based model of long-term potentiation and synaptic tagging and capture
Recent data indicate that plasticity protocols have not only synapse-specific but also more widespread effects. In particular, in synaptic tagging and capture (STC), tagged synapses can capture plasticity-related proteins, synthesized in response to strong stimulation of other synapses. This leads to long-lasting modification of only weakly stimulated synapses. Here we present a biophysical model of synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus that incorporates several key results from experiments on STC. The model specifies a set of physical states in which a synapse can exist, together with transition rates that are affected by high- and low-frequency stimulation protocols. In contrast to most standard plasticity models, the model exhibits both early- and late-phase LTP/D, de-potentiation, and STC. As such, it provides a useful starting point for further theoretical work on the role of STC in learning and memory
A unified inter-host and in-host model of antibiotic resistance and infection spread in a hospital ward
As the battle continues against hospital-acquired infections and the concurrent rise in antibiotic resistance among many of the major causative pathogens, there is a dire need to conduct controlled experiments, in order to compare proposed control strategies. However, cost, time, and ethical considerations make this evaluation strategy either impractical or impossible to implement with living patients. This paper presents a multi-scale model that offers promise as the basis for a tool to simulate these (and other) controlled experiments. This is a âunifiedâ model in two important ways: (i) It combines inter-host and in-host dynamics into a single model, and (ii) it links two very different modeling approaches - agent-based modeling and differential equations - into a single model. The potential of this model as an instrument to combat antibiotic resistance in hospitals is demonstrated with numerical examples
Measurement-induced two-qubit entanglement in a bad cavity: Fundamental and practical considerations
An entanglement-generating protocol is described for two qubits coupled to a
cavity field in the bad-cavity limit. By measuring the amplitude of a field
transmitted through the cavity, an entangled spin-singlet state can be
established probabilistically. Both fundamental limitations and practical
measurement schemes are discussed, and the influence of dissipative processes
and inhomogeneities in the qubits are analyzed. The measurement-based protocol
provides criteria for selecting states with an infidelity scaling linearly with
the qubit-decoherence rate.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
- âŚ