Improved ARV Rounding in Small-set Expanders and Graphs of Bounded Threshold Rank

We prove a structure theorem for the feasible solutions of the Arora-Rao-Vazirani SDP relaxation on low threshold rank graphs and on small-set expanders. We show that if G is a graph of bounded threshold rank or a small-set expander, then an optimal solution of the Arora-Rao-Vazirani relaxation (or of any stronger version of it) can be almost entirely covered by a small number of balls of bounded radius. Then, we show that, if k is the number of balls, a solution of this form can be rounded with an approximation factor of O(sqrt {log k}) in the case of the Arora-Rao-Vazirani relaxation, and with a constant-factor approximation in the case of the k-th round of the Sherali-Adams hierarchy starting at the Arora-Rao-Vazirani relaxation. The structure theorem and the rounding scheme combine to prove the following result, where G=(V,E) is a graph of expansion \phi(G), \lambda_k is the k-th smallest eigenvalue of the normalized Laplacian of G, and \phi_k(G) = \min_{disjoint S_1,...,S_k} \max_{1 <= i <= k} \phi(S_i) is the largest expansion of any k disjoint subsets of V: if either \lambda_k >> log^{2.5} k \cdot phi(G) or \phi_{k} (G) >> log k \cdot sqrt{log n}\cdot loglog n\cdot \phi(G), then the Arora-Rao-Vazirani relaxation can be rounded in polynomial time with an approximation ratio O(sqrt{log k}). Stronger approximation guarantees are achievable in time exponential in k via relaxations in the Lasserre hierarchy. Guruswami and Sinop [GS13] and Arora, Ge and Sinop [AGS13] prove that 1+eps approximation is achievable in time 2^{O(k)} poly(n) if either \lambda_k > \phi(G)/ poly(eps), or if SSE_{n/k} > sqrt{log k log n} \cdot \phi(G)/ poly(eps), where SSE_s is the minimal expansion of sets of size at most s

"Anomaly" in n=infinity Alday-Maldacena Duality for Wavy Circle

If the Alday-Maldacena version of string/gauge duality is formulated as an equivalence between double loop and area integrals a la arXiv: 0708.1625, then this pure geometric relation can be tested for various choices of n-side polygons. The simplest possibility arises at n=infinity, with polygon substituted by an arbitrary continuous curve. If the curve is a circle, the minimal surface problem is exactly solvable. If it infinitesimally deviates from a circle, then the duality relation can be studied by expanding in powers of a small parameter. In the first approximation the Nambu-Goto (NG) equations can be linearized, and the peculiar NG Laplacian plays the central role. Making use of explicit zero-modes of this operator (NG-harmonic functions), we investigate the geometric duality in the lowest orders for small deformations of arbitrary shape lying in the plane of the original circle. We find a surprisingly strong dependence of the minimal area on regularization procedure affecting "the boundary terms" in minimal area. If these terms are totally omitted, the remaining piece is regularization independent, but still differs by simple numerical factors like 4 from the double-loop integral which represents the BDS formula so that we stop short from the first non-trivial confirmation of the Alday-Maldacena duality. This confirms the earlier-found discrepancy for two parallel lines at n=infinity, but demonstrates that it actually affects only a finite number (out of infinitely many) of parameters in the functional dependence on the shape of the boundary, and the duality is only slightly violated, which allows one to call this violation an anomaly.Comment: 25 pages, no figures; overall coefficients restored, an Appendix adde

Modular analysis of the control of flagellar Ca2+-spike trains produced by CatSper and CaV channels in sea urchin sperm

Intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) is a basic and ubiquitous cellular signal controlling a wide variety of biological processes. A remarkable example is the steering of sea urchin spermatozoa towards the conspecific egg by a spatially and temporally orchestrated series of [Ca2+]i spikes. Although this process has been an experimental paradigm for reproduction and sperm chemotaxis studies, the composition and regulation of the signalling network underlying the cytosolic calcium fluctuations are hitherto not fully understood. Here, we used a differential equations model of the signalling network to assess which set of channels can explain the characteristic envelope and temporal organisation of the [Ca2+]i-spike trains. The signalling network comprises an initial membrane hyperpolarisation produced by an Upstream module triggered by the egg-released chemoattractant peptide, via receptor activation, cGMP synthesis and decay. Followed by downstream modules leading to intraflagellar pH (pHi), voltage and [Ca2+]i fluctuations. The Upstream module outputs were fitted to kinetic data on cGMP activity and early membrane potential changes measured in bulk cell populations. Two candidate modules featuring voltage-dependent Ca2+-channels link these outputs to the downstream dynamics and can independently explain the typical decaying envelope and the progressive spacing of the spikes. In the first module, [Ca2+]i-spike trains require the concerted action of a classical CaV-like channel and a potassium channel, BK (Slo1), whereas the second module relies on pHi-dependent CatSper dynamics articulated with voltage-dependent neutral sodium-proton exchanger (NHE). We analysed the dynamics of these two modules alone and in mixed scenarios. We show that the [Ca2+]i dynamics observed experimentally after sustained alkalinisation can be reproduced by a model featuring the CatSper and NHE module but not by those including the pH-independent CaV and BK module or proportionate mixed scenarios. We conclude in favour of the module containing CatSper and NHE and highlight experimentally testable predictions that would corroborate this conclusion

Global well-posedness and scattering for the defocusing energy-critical nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation in R1+4\R^{1+4}

We obtain global well-posedness, scattering, uniform regularity, and global $L^6_{t,x}$ spacetime bounds for energy-space solutions to the defocusing energy-critical nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation in $\R\times\R^4$. Our arguments closely follow those of Colliander-Keel-Staffilani-Takaoka-Tao, though our derivation of the frequency-localized interaction Morawetz estimate is somewhat simpler. As a consequence, our method yields a better bound on the $L^6_{t,x}$-norm

Small x nonlinear evolution with impact parameter and the structure function data

The nonlinear Balitsky-Kovchegov equation at small x is solved numerically, incorporating impact parameter dependence. Confinement is modeled by including effective gluon mass in the dipole evolution kernel, which regulates the splitting of dipoles with large sizes. It is shown, that the solution is sensitive to different implementations of the mass in the kernel. In addition, running coupling effects are taken into account in this analysis. Finally, a comparison of the calculations using the dipole framework with the inclusive data from HERA on the structure functions F2 and FL is performed.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures. Minor revision. One reference added, two figures update