Band structure and atomic sum rules for x-ray dichroism

Corrections to the atomic orbital sum rule for circular magnetic x-ray dichroism in solids are derived using orthonormal LMTOs as a single-particle basis for electron band states.Comment: 7 pages, no figure

Changing the way we learn: towards agile learning and co-operation

This paper addresses the need for learning and competence development in industrial organizations. The people that enter professional organizations today are part of a gamer generation that have some or much experience with on-line games. Therefore they are more open to e-learning and in general more open to access anything on-line. At the same time industrial organizations experience a pressure on their ability to train employees faster due to the increase in complexity. We argue that games are not yet mature enough to support this training challenge as stand alone efforts. But games can support the training and competence development in a synchronized setup with other means

Simple stochastic models showing strong anomalous diffusion

We show that {\it strong} anomalous diffusion, i.e. \mean{|x(t)|^q} \sim t^{q \nu(q)} where $q \nu(q)$ is a nonlinear function of $q$, is a generic phenomenon within a class of generalized continuous-time random walks. For such class of systems it is possible to compute analytically nu(2n) where n is an integer number. The presence of strong anomalous diffusion implies that the data collapse of the probability density function P(x,t)=t^{-nu}F(x/t^nu) cannot hold, a part (sometimes) in the limit of very small x/t^\nu, now nu=lim_{q to 0} nu(q). Moreover the comparison with previous numerical results shows that the shape of F(x/t^nu) is not universal, i.e., one can have systems with the same nu but different F.Comment: Final versio

Evolution of magnetic fields and energetics of flares in active region 8210

To better understand eruptive events in the solar corona, we combine sequences of multi-wavelength observations and modelling of the coronal magnetic field of NOAA AR 8210, a highly flare-productive active region. From the photosphere to the corona, the observations give us information about the motion of magnetic elements (photospheric magnetograms), the location of flares (e.g., H$\alpha$, EUV or soft X-ray brightenings), and the type of events (H$\alpha$ blueshift events). Assuming that the evolution of the coronal magnetic field above an active region can be described by successive equilibria, we follow in time the magnetic changes of the 3D nonlinear force-free (nlff) fields reconstructed from a time series of photospheric vector magnetograms. We apply this method to AR 8210 observed on May 1, 1998 between 17:00 UT and 21:40 UT. We identify two types of horizontal photospheric motions that can drive an eruption: a clockwise rotation of the sunspot, and a fast motion of an emerging polarity. The reconstructed nlff coronal fields give us a scenario of the confined flares observed in AR 8210: the slow sunspot rotation enables the occurence of flare by a reconnection process close to a separatrix surface whereas the fast motion is associated with small-scale reconnections but no detectable flaring activity. We also study the injection rates of magnetic energy, Poynting flux and relative magnetic helicity through the photosphere and into the corona. The injection of magnetic energy by transverse photospheric motions is found to be correlated with the storage of energy in the corona and then the release by flaring activity. The magnetic helicity derived from the magnetic field and the vector potential of the nlff configuration is computed in the coronal volume. The magnetic helicity evolution shows that AR 8210 is dominated by the mutual helicity between the closed and potential fields and not by the self helicity of the closed field which characterizes the twist of confined flux bundles. We conclude that for AR 8210 the complex topology is a more important factor than the twist in the eruption process

Bursts and Shocks in a Continuum Shell Model

We study a "burst" event, i. e. the evolution of an initial condition having support only in a finite interval of k-space, in the continuum shell model due to Parisi. We show that the continuum equation without forcing or dissipation can be explicitly written in characteristic form and that the right and left moving parts can be solved exactly. When this is supplemented by the appropriate shock condition it is possible to find the asymptotic form of the burst.Comment: 15 pages, 2 eps figures included, Latex 2e. Contribution to the proceedings of the conference: Disorder and Chaos, in honour of Giovanni Paladin, September 22-24, 1997, in Rom

The Dreaming Variational Autoencoder for Reinforcement Learning Environments

Reinforcement learning has shown great potential in generalizing over raw sensory data using only a single neural network for value optimization. There are several challenges in the current state-of-the-art reinforcement learning algorithms that prevent them from converging towards the global optima. It is likely that the solution to these problems lies in short- and long-term planning, exploration and memory management for reinforcement learning algorithms. Games are often used to benchmark reinforcement learning algorithms as they provide a flexible, reproducible, and easy to control environment. Regardless, few games feature a state-space where results in exploration, memory, and planning are easily perceived. This paper presents The Dreaming Variational Autoencoder (DVAE), a neural network based generative modeling architecture for exploration in environments with sparse feedback. We further present Deep Maze, a novel and flexible maze engine that challenges DVAE in partial and fully-observable state-spaces, long-horizon tasks, and deterministic and stochastic problems. We show initial findings and encourage further work in reinforcement learning driven by generative exploration.Comment: Best Student Paper Award, Proceedings of the 38th SGAI International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Cambridge, UK, 2018, Artificial Intelligence XXXV, 201

Three-dimensional MgB2_{2}-type superconductivity in hole-doped diamond

We substantiate by calculations that the recently discovered superconductivity below 4 K in 3% boron-doped diamond is caused by electron-phonon coupling of the same type as in MgB$_2$, albeit in 3 dimensions. Holes at the top of the zone-centered, degenerate $\sigma$-bonding valence band couple strongly to the optical bond-stretching modes. The increase from 2 to 3 dimensions reduces the mode-softening crucial for $T_{c}$ reaching 40 K in MgB$_{2}.$ Even if diamond had the same \emph{bare} coupling constant as MgB$_{2},$ which could be achieved with 10% doping, $T_{c}$ would only be 25 K. Superconductivity above 1 K in Si (Ge) requires hole-doping beyond 5% (10%).Comment: revised version, accepted by PR

The Stability Balloon for Two-dimensional Vortex Ripple Patterns

Patterns of vortex ripples form when a sand bed is subjected to an oscillatory fluid flow. Here we describe experiments on the response of regular vortex ripple patterns to sudden changes of the driving amplitude a or frequency f. A sufficient decrease of f leads to a "freezing" of the pattern, while a sufficient increase of f leads to a supercritical secondary "pearling" instability. Sufficient changes in the amplitude a lead to subcritical secondary "doubling" and "bulging" instabilities. Our findings are summarized in a "stability balloon" for vortex ripple pattern formation.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure