Minimizing optimal transport for functions with fixed-size nodal sets

Consider the class of zero-mean functions with fixed $L^{\infty}$ and $L^1$ norms and exactly $N\in \mathbb{N}$ nodal points. Which functions $f$ minimize $W_p(f_+,f_-)$, the Wasserstein distance between the measures whose densities are the positive and negative parts? We provide a complete solution to this minimization problem on the line and the circle, which provides sharp constants for previously proven ``uncertainty principle''-type inequalities, i.e., lower bounds on $N\cdot W_p (f_+, f_-)$. We further show that, while such inequalities hold in many metric measure spaces, they are no longer sharp when the non-branching assumption is violated; indeed, for metric star-graphs, the optimal lower bound on $W_p(f_+,f_-)$ is not inversely proportional to the size of the nodal set, $N$. Based on similar reductions, we make connections between the analogous problem of minimizing $W_p(f_+,f_-)$ for $f$ defined on $\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^d$ with an equivalent optimal domain partition problem

Probing the Magnetic Field Structure in Gamma-Ray Bursts through Dispersive Plasma Effects on the Afterglow Polarization

(Abr) The origin and structure of magnetic fields in Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) fireball plasmas are two of the most important open questions in all GRB models. We show that the structure and strength of the magnetic field may be constrained by radio and IR observations of the early afterglow, where plasma effects on the polarization of propagating radiation are significant. We calculate these propagation effects for cold and relativistic plasmas, and find that in the presence of a uniform equipartition field the degree of linear polarization is suppressed, and circular polarization prevails at low frequencies, nu < 1-3 GHz, (2x10^11 Hz < nu < few x 10^14 Hz) in the forward (reverse) shock. At higher frequencies linear polarization dominates. At the frequency of the transition between circular and linear polarization, the net level of polarization is minimal, ~10-20%. These features are nearly independent of the circumburst density. The transition frequency is smaller by a factor of ~10 when the uniform field is much weaker than equipartition. The dependence of these results on viewing geometry, outflow collimation and magnetic field orientation is discussed. When the configuration of the field is entangled over length scales much smaller than the extent of the emitting plasma, the aforementioned effects should not be observed and a linear polarization at the few % level is expected. Polarimetric observations during the early afterglow, and particularly of the reverse shock emission, may therefore place strong constraints on the structure and strength of the magnetic field within the fireball plasma.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Revised version includes improved discussion of viewing and fireball geometry, with implications to resulting polarizatio

Relativistic Radiation Mediated Shocks

The structure of relativistic radiation mediated shocks (RRMS) propagating into a cold electron-proton plasma is calculated and analyzed. A qualitative discussion of the physics of relativistic and non relativistic shocks, including order of magnitude estimates for the relevant temperature and length scales, is presented. Detailed numerical solutions are derived for shock Lorentz factors $\Gamma_u$ in the range $6\le\Gamma_u\le30$, using a novel iteration technique solving the hydrodynamics and radiation transport equations (the protons, electrons and positrons are argued to be coupled by collective plasma processes and are treated as a fluid). The shock transition (deceleration) region, where the Lorentz factor $\Gamma$ drops from $\Gamma_u$ to $\sim 1$, is characterized by high plasma temperatures $T\sim \Gamma m_ec^2$ and highly anisotropic radiation, with characteristic shock-frame energy of upstream and downstream going photons of a few~$\times\, m_ec^2$ and $\sim \Gamma^2 m_ec^2$, respectively.Photon scattering is dominated by e$^\pm$ pairs, with pair to proton density ratio reaching $\approx10^2\Gamma_u$. The width of the deceleration region, in terms of Thomson optical depths for upstream going photons, is large, $\Delta\tau\sim\Gamma_u^2$ ($\Delta\tau\sim1$ neglecting the contribution of pairs) due to Klein Nishina suppression of the scattering cross section. A high energy photon component, narrowly beamed in the downstream direction, with a nearly flat power-law like spectrum, $\nu I_\nu\propto\nu^0$, and an energy cutoff at $\sim \Gamma_u^2 m_ec^2$ carries a fair fraction of the energy flux at the end of the deceleration region. An approximate analytic model of RRMS, reproducing the main features of the numerical results, is provided

Near invariance of quasi-energy spectrum of Floquet Hamiltonians

The spectral analysis of the unitary monodromy operator, associated with a time-periodically (paramatrically) forced Schrodinger equation, is a question of longstanding interest. Here, we consider this question for Hamiltonians of the form $$H^{\varepsilon}(t)=H^0 + \varepsilon^a W(\varepsilon^a t, -i\nabla)\, ,$$ where $H^0$ is an unperturbed autonomous Hamiltonian, $a\geq 1$, and $W(T,\cdot)$ has a period of $T_{\rm per} >0$. In particular, in the small $\varepsilon>0$ regime, we seek a comparison between the spectral properties of the monodromy operator, the one-period flow map associated with the $H^\varepsilon(t)$ dynamics, and that of the autonomous (unforced) flow, $\exp[-iH^0 T_{\rm per} \varepsilon ^{-a}]$. We consider $H^0$ which is spatially periodic on $\mathbb{R} ^n$ with respect to a lattice. Using the decomposition of $H^0$ and $H^\varepsilon(t)$ into their actions on spaces (Floquet-Bloch fibers) of pseudo-periodic functions, we establish a near spectral-invariance property for the monodromy operator, when acting data which are $\varepsilon$-localized in energy and quasi-momentum. Our analysis requires the following steps: (i) spectrally-localized data are approximated by {\it band-limited (Floquet-Bloch) wavepackets}; (ii) the envelope dynamics of such wavepackets is well approximated by an effective (homogenized) PDE, and (iii) an exact invariance property for band-limited Floquet-Bloch wavepackets, which follows from the effective dynamics. We apply our general results to a number of periodic Hamiltonians, $H^0$, of interest in the study of photonic and quantum materials