4,613 research outputs found
An implementation of Deflate in Coq
The widely-used compression format "Deflate" is defined in RFC 1951 and is
based on prefix-free codings and backreferences. There are unclear points about
the way these codings are specified, and several sources for confusion in the
standard. We tried to fix this problem by giving a rigorous mathematical
specification, which we formalized in Coq. We produced a verified
implementation in Coq which achieves competitive performance on inputs of
several megabytes. In this paper we present the several parts of our
implementation: a fully verified implementation of canonical prefix-free
codings, which can be used in other compression formats as well, and an elegant
formalism for specifying sophisticated formats, which we used to implement both
a compression and decompression algorithm in Coq which we formally prove
inverse to each other -- the first time this has been achieved to our
knowledge. The compatibility to other Deflate implementations can be shown
empirically. We furthermore discuss some of the difficulties, specifically
regarding memory and runtime requirements, and our approaches to overcome them
Hyperfine interaction and electronic spin fluctuation study on SrLaFeCoO (x = 0, 1, 2) by high-resolution back-scattering neutron spectroscopy
The study of hyperfine interaction by high-resolution inelastic neutron
scattering is not very well known compared to the other competing techniques
viz. NMR, M\"ossbauer, PACS etc. Also the study is limited mostly to
magnetically ordered systems. Here we report such study on
SrLaFeCoO (x = 0, 1, 2) of which first (SrFeCoO with x
= 0) has a canonical spin spin glass, the second (SrLaFeCoO with x = 1) has
a so-called magnetic glass and the third (LaFeCoO with x = 2) has a
magnetically ordered ground state. Our present study revealed clear inelastic
signal for SrLaFeCoO, possibly also inelastic signal for SrFeCoO
below the spin freezing temperatures but no inelastic signal at all
for for the magnetically ordered LaFeCoO in the neutron scattering
spectra. The broadened inelastic signals observed suggest hyperfine field
distribution in the two disordered magnetic glassy systems and no signal for
the third compound suggests no or very small hyperfine field at the Co nucleus
due to Co electronic moment. For the two magnetic glassy system apart from the
hyperfine signal due only to Co, we also observed electronic spin fluctuations
probably from both Fe and Co electronic moments. \end{abstract
Model Data Fusion: developing Bayesian inversion to constrain equilibrium and mode structure
Recently, a new probabilistic "data fusion" framework based on Bayesian
principles has been developed on JET and W7-AS. The Bayesian analysis framework
folds in uncertainties and inter-dependencies in the diagnostic data and signal
forward-models, together with prior knowledge of the state of the plasma, to
yield predictions of internal magnetic structure. A feature of the framework,
known as MINERVA (J. Svensson, A. Werner, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
50, 085022, 2008), is the inference of magnetic flux surfaces without the use
of a force balance model. We discuss results from a new project to develop
Bayesian inversion tools that aim to (1) distinguish between competing
equilibrium theories, which capture different physics, using the MAST spherical
tokamak; and (2) test the predictions of MHD theory, particularly mode
structure, using the H-1 Heliac.Comment: submitted to Journal of Plasma Fusion Research 10/11/200
Passive Investors, Not Passive Owners
Passive institutional investors are an increasingly important component of U.S. stock ownership. To examine whether and by which mechanisms passive investors influence firms\u27 governance, we exploit variation in ownership by passive mutual funds associated with stock assignments to the Russell 1000 and 2000 indexes. Our findings suggest that passive mutual funds influence firms\u27 governance choices, resulting in more independent directors, removal of takeover defenses, and more equal voting rights. Passive investors appear to exert influence through their large voting blocs, and consistent with the observed governance differences increasing firm value, passive ownership is associated with improvements in firms’ longer-term performance
Identification Using Russell 1000/2000 Index Assignments: A Discussion of Methodologies
This paper discusses tradeoffs of various empirical methods used in recent papers that rely on Russell 1000/2000 index assignments for identification. The paper also addresses why different approaches to this identification appear to reach different conclusions about the effect of index assignment on firm’s ownership structure and corporate policies
Binary pattern tile set synthesis is NP-hard
In the field of algorithmic self-assembly, a long-standing unproven
conjecture has been that of the NP-hardness of binary pattern tile set
synthesis (2-PATS). The -PATS problem is that of designing a tile assembly
system with the smallest number of tile types which will self-assemble an input
pattern of colors. Of both theoretical and practical significance, -PATS
has been studied in a series of papers which have shown -PATS to be NP-hard
for , , and then . In this paper, we close the
fundamental conjecture that 2-PATS is NP-hard, concluding this line of study.
While most of our proof relies on standard mathematical proof techniques, one
crucial lemma makes use of a computer-assisted proof, which is a relatively
novel but increasingly utilized paradigm for deriving proofs for complex
mathematical problems. This tool is especially powerful for attacking
combinatorial problems, as exemplified by the proof of the four color theorem
by Appel and Haken (simplified later by Robertson, Sanders, Seymour, and
Thomas) or the recent important advance on the Erd\H{o}s discrepancy problem by
Konev and Lisitsa using computer programs. We utilize a massively parallel
algorithm and thus turn an otherwise intractable portion of our proof into a
program which requires approximately a year of computation time, bringing the
use of computer-assisted proofs to a new scale. We fully detail the algorithm
employed by our code, and make the code freely available online
{VOXEL}: {C}ross-Layer Optimization for Video Streaming with Imperfect Transmission
Delivering videos under less-than-ideal network conditions without compromising end-users' quality of experiences is a hard problem. Virtually all prior work follow a piecemeal approach - -either "tweaking"the fully reliable transport layer or making the client "smarter."We propose VOXEL, a cross-layer optimization system for video streaming. We use VOXEL to demonstrate how to combine application-provided "insights"with a partially reliable protocol for optimizing video streaming. To this end, we present a novel ABR algorithm that explicitly trades off losses for improving end-users' video-watching experiences. VOXEL is fully compatible with DASH, and backward-compatible with VOXEL-unaware servers and clients. In our experiments emulating a wide range of network conditions, VOXEL outperforms the state-of-the-art: We stream videos in the 90th-percentile with up to 97% less rebuffering than the state-of-the-art without sacrificing visual fidelity. We also demonstrate the benefits of VOXEL for small-buffer regimes like the emerging use case of low-latency and live streaming. In a survey of 54 real users, 84% of the participants indicated that they prefer videos streamed using VOXEL compared to the state-of-the-art
Polynomial iterative algorithms for coloring and analyzing random graphs
We study the graph coloring problem over random graphs of finite average
connectivity . Given a number of available colors, we find that graphs
with low connectivity admit almost always a proper coloring whereas graphs with
high connectivity are uncolorable. Depending on , we find the precise value
of the critical average connectivity . Moreover, we show that below
there exist a clustering phase in which ground states
spontaneously divide into an exponential number of clusters. Furthermore, we
extended our considerations to the case of single instances showing consistent
results. This lead us to propose a new algorithm able to color in polynomial
time random graphs in the hard but colorable region, i.e when .Comment: 23 pages, 10 eps figure
Excitonic - vibronic coupled dimers: A dynamic approach
The dynamical properties of exciton transfer coupled to polarization
vibrations in a two site system are investigated in detail. A fixed point
analysis of the full system of Bloch - oscillator equations representing the
coupled excitonic - vibronic flow is performed. For overcritical polarization a
bifurcation converting the stable bonding ground state to a hyperbolic unstable
state which is basic to the dynamical properties of the model is obtained. The
phase space of the system is generally of a mixed type: Above bifurcation chaos
develops starting from the region of the hyperbolic state and spreading with
increasing energy over the Bloch sphere leaving only islands of regular
dynamics. The behaviour of the polarization oscillator accordingly changes from
regular to chaotic.Comment: uuencoded compressed Postscript file containing text and figures. In
case of questions, please, write to [email protected]
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