Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in the local density of states

The scattering of electrons with inhomogeneities produces modulations in the local density of states of a metal. We show that electron interference contributions to these modulations are affected by the magnetic field via the Aharonov-Bohm effect. This can be exploited in a simple STM setup that serves as an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer at the nanometer scale.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. v2 added reference

Quantum critical behavior of electrons at the edge of charge order

We consider quantum critical points (QCP) in which quantum fluctuations associated with charge rather than magnetic order induce unconventional metallic properties. Based on finite-T calculations on a two-dimensional extended Hubbard model we show how the coherence scale T* characteristic of Fermi liquid behavior of the homogeneous metal vanishes at the onset of charge order. A strong effective mass enhancement reminiscent of heavy fermion behavior indicates the possible destruction of quasiparticles at the QCP. Experimental probes on quarter-filled layered organic materials are proposed for unveiling the behavior of electrons across the quantum critical region.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Bioclimatology, structure, and conservation perspectives of Quercus pyrenaica, Acer opalus subsp. Granatensis, and Corylus avellana deciduous forests on Mediterranean bioclimate in the South-Central part of the Iberian Peninsula

The plant variability in the southern Iberian Peninsula consists of around 3500 different taxa due to its high bioclimatic, geographic, and geological diversity. The deciduous forests in the southern Iberian Peninsula are located in regions with topographies and specific bioclimatic conditions that allow for the survival of taxa that are typical of cooler and wetter bioclimatic regions and therefore represent the relict evidence of colder and more humid paleoclimatic conditions. The floristic composition of 421 samples of deciduous forests in the south-central part of the Iberian Peninsula were analyzed. The ecological importance index (IVI) was calculated, where the most important tree species were Quercuspyrenaica, Aceropalus subsp. Granatensis, and Corylusavellana. These species are uncommon in the south-central part of the Iberian Peninsula, forming forests of little extension. An analysis of the vertical distribution of the species (stratum) shows that the majority of the species of stratum 3 (hemicriptophics, camephytes, geophites, and nanophanerophytes) are characteristic of deciduous forests, and their presence is positively correlated with high values of bioclimatic variables related to humidity and presence of water in the soil (nemoral environments), while they are negatively correlated with high values of bioclimatic variables related to high temperatures, evapotranspiration, and aridity. This work demonstrates that several characteristic deciduous forest taxa are more vulnerable to disappearance due to the loss of their nemoral conditions caused by gaps in the tree or shrub canopy. These gaps lead to an increase in evapotranspiration, excess insolation, and a consequent loss of water and humidity in the microclimatic conditions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Multi-Objective Genetic Programming for Feature Extraction and Data Visualization

Feature extraction transforms high dimensional data into a new subspace of lower dimensionalitywhile keeping the classification accuracy. Traditional algorithms do not consider the multi-objective nature of this task. Data transformations should improve the classification performance on the new subspace, as well as to facilitate data visualization, which has attracted increasing attention in recent years. Moreover, new challenges arising in data mining, such as the need to deal with imbalanced data sets call for new algorithms capable of handling this type of data. This paper presents a Pareto-basedmulti-objective genetic programming algorithm for feature extraction and data visualization. The algorithm is designed to obtain data transformations that optimize the classification and visualization performance both on balanced and imbalanced data. Six classification and visualization measures are identified as objectives to be optimized by the multi-objective algorithm. The algorithm is evaluated and compared to 11 well-known feature extraction methods, and to the performance on the original high dimensional data. Experimental results on 22 balanced and 20 imbalanced data sets show that it performs very well on both types of data, which is its significant advantage over existing feature extraction algorithms

Scalable CAIM Discretization on Multiple GPUs Using Concurrent Kernels

CAIM(Class-Attribute InterdependenceMaximization) is one of the stateof- the-art algorithms for discretizing data for which classes are known. However, it may take a long time when run on high-dimensional large-scale data, with large number of attributes and/or instances. This paper presents a solution to this problem by introducing a GPU-based implementation of the CAIM algorithm that significantly speeds up the discretization process on big complex data sets. The GPU-based implementation is scalable to multiple GPU devices and enables the use of concurrent kernels execution capabilities ofmodernGPUs. The CAIMGPU-basedmodel is evaluated and compared with the original CAIM using single and multi-threaded parallel configurations on 40 data sets with different characteristics. The results show great speedup, up to 139 times faster using 4 GPUs, which makes discretization of big data efficient and manageable. For example, discretization time of one big data set is reduced from 2 hours to less than 2 minute

Cold atoms near superconductors: Atomic spin coherence beyond the Johnson noise limit

We report on the measurement of atomic spin coherence near the surface of a superconducting niobium wire. As compared to normal conducting metal surfaces, the atomic spin coherence is maintained for time periods beyond the Johnson noise limit. The result provides experimental evidence that magnetic near field noise near the superconductor is strongly suppressed. Such long atomic spin coherence times near superconductors open the way towards the development of coherently coupled cold atom / solid state hybrid quantum systems with potential applications in quantum information processing and precision force sensing.Comment: Major revisions of the text for submission to New Journal of Physics 8 pages, 4 figure

Broad-lined type Ic supernova iPTF16asu: A challenge to all popular models

It is well-known that ordinary supernovae (SNe) are powered by 56Ni cascade decay. Broad-lined type Ic SNe (SNe Ic-BL) are a subclass of SNe that are not all exclusively powered by 56Ni decay. It was suggested that some SNe Ic-BL are powered by magnetar spin-down. iPTF16asu is a peculiar broad-lined type Ic supernova discovered by the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory. With a rest-frame rise time of only 4 days, iPTF16asu challenges the existing popular models, for example, the radioactive heating (56Ni-only) and the magnetar+56Ni models. Here we show that this rapid rise could be attributed to interaction between the SN ejecta and a pre-existing circumstellar medium ejected by the progenitor during its final stages of evolution, while the late-time light curve can be better explained by energy input from a rapidly spinning magnetar. This model is a natural extension to the previous magnetar model. The mass-loss rate of the progenitor and ejecta mass are consistent with a progenitor that experienced a common envelope evolution in a binary. An alternative model for the early rapid rise of the light curve is the cooling of a shock propagating into an extended envelope of the progenitor. It is difficult at this stage to tell which model (interaction+magnetar+56Ni or cooling+magnetar+56Ni) is better for iPTF16asu. However, it is worth noting that the inferred envelope mass in the cooling+magnetar+56Ni is very high.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, 3 table

Aligned Drawings of Planar Graphs

Let $G$ be a graph that is topologically embedded in the plane and let $\mathcal{A}$ be an arrangement of pseudolines intersecting the drawing of $G$. An aligned drawing of $G$ and $\mathcal{A}$ is a planar polyline drawing $\Gamma$ of $G$ with an arrangement $A$ of lines so that $\Gamma$ and $A$ are homeomorphic to $G$ and $\mathcal{A}$. We show that if $\mathcal{A}$ is stretchable and every edge $e$ either entirely lies on a pseudoline or it has at most one intersection with $\mathcal{A}$, then $G$ and $\mathcal{A}$ have a straight-line aligned drawing. In order to prove this result, we strengthen a result of Da Lozzo et al., and prove that a planar graph $G$ and a single pseudoline $\mathcal{L}$ have an aligned drawing with a prescribed convex drawing of the outer face. We also study the less restrictive version of the alignment problem with respect to one line, where only a set of vertices is given and we need to determine whether they can be collinear. We show that the problem is NP-complete but fixed-parameter tractable.Comment: Preliminary work appeared in the Proceedings of the 25th International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2017

Polyimide foams

A fully imidized, solvent-free polyimide foam having excellent mechanical, acoustic, thermal, and flame resistant properties is produced. A first solution is provided, which includes one or more aromatic dianhydrides or derivatives of aromatic dianhydrides, and may include one or more aromatic diamines, dissolved in one or more polar solvents, along with an effective amount of one or more blowing agents. This first solution may also advantageously include effective amounts respectively of one or mores catalysts, one or more surfactants, and one or more fire retardants. A second solution is also provided which includes one or more isocyanates. The first and second solutions are rapidly and thoroughly mixed to produce an admixture, which is allowed to foam--in an open container, or in a closed mold--under ambient conditions to completion produce a foamed product. This foamed product is then cured by high frequency electromagnetic radiation, thermal energy, or a combination thereof. Alternatively, the process is adapted for spraying or extrusion