Proof of a conjecture by Gazeau et al. using the Gould Hopper polynomials

We prove the "strong conjecture" expressed by Gazeau et al. in arXiv:1203.3936v1 [math-ph] about the coefficients of the Taylor expansion of the exponential of a polynomial. This implies the "weak conjecture" as a special case. The proof relies mainly about properties of the Gould-Hopper polynomials

Microscopic systems with and without Coulomb interaction, fragmentation and phase transitions in finite nuclei

We test the influence of the Coulomb interaction on the thermodynamic and cluster generation properties of a system of classical particles described by different lattice models. Numerical simulations show that the Coulomb interaction produces essentially a shift in temperature of quantities like the specific heat but not qualitative changes. We also consider a cellular model. The thermodynamic properties of the system are qualitatively unaltered.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures. New comments concerning the effect of the Coulomb interaction on the caloric curve. Justification of the criterion which defines bound clusters. Further comments about the identification of the order of the transition. To be published in Eur. Phys. J.

Interacting partially directed self avoiding walk. From phase transition to the geometry of the collapsed phase

In this paper, we investigate a model for a $1+1$ dimensional self-interacting and partially directed self-avoiding walk, usually referred to by the acronym IPDSAW. The interaction intensity and the free energy of the system are denoted by $\beta$ and $f$, respectively. The IPDSAW is known to undergo a collapse transition at $\beta_c$. We provide the precise asymptotic of the free energy close to criticality, that is we show that $f(\beta_c-\epsilon)\sim \gamma \epsilon^{3/2}$ where $\gamma$ is computed explicitly and interpreted in terms of an associated continuous model. We also establish some path properties of the random walk inside the collapsed phase $(\beta>\beta_c)$. We prove that the geometric conformation adopted by the polymer is made of a succession of long vertical stretches that attract each other to form a unique macroscopic bead, we identify the horizontal extension of the random walk inside the collapsed phase and we establish the convergence of the rescaled envelope of the macroscopic bead towards a deterministic Wulff shape.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Annals of Probabilit

Adaptation “in the Wild”: Ontology-Based Personalization of Open-Corpus Learning Material

Abstract. Teacher and students can use WWW as a limitless source of learning material for nearly any subject. Yet, such abundance of content comes with the problem of finding the right piece at the right time. Conventional adaptive educational systems cannot support personalized access to open-corpus learning material as they rely on manually constructed content models. This paper presents an approach to this problem that does not require intervention from a human expert. The approach has been implemented in an adaptive system that recommends students supplementary reading material and adaptively annotates it. The results of the evaluation experiment have demonstrated several significant effects of using the system on students ’ learning

The valuation of clean spread options: linking electricity, emissions and fuels

The purpose of the paper is to present a new pricing method for clean spread options, and to illustrate its main features on a set of numerical examples produced by a dedicated computer code. The novelty of the approach is embedded in the use of a structural model as opposed to reduced-form models which fail to capture properly the fundamental dependencies between the economic factors entering the production process

Adaptation “in the Wild”: Ontology-Based Personalization of Open-Corpus Learning Material

Teacher and students can use WWW as a limitless source of learning material for nearly any subject. Yet, such abundance of content comes with the problem of finding the right piece at the right time. Conventional adaptive educational systems cannot support personalized access to open-corpus learning material as they rely on manually constructed content models. This paper presents an approach to this problem that does not require intervention from a human expert. The approach has been implemented in an adaptive system that recommends students supplementary reading material and adaptively annotates it. The results of the evaluation experiment have demonstrated several significant effects of using the system on students’ learning.\u

The deconfining phase transition in full QCD with two dynamical flavors

We investigate the deconfining phase transition in SU(3) pure gauge theory and in full QCD with two flavors of staggered fermions. The phase transition is detected by measuring the free energy in presence of an abelian monopole background field. In the pure gauge case our finite size scaling analysis is in agreement with the well known presence of a weak first order phase transition. In the case of 2 flavors full QCD we find, using the standard pure gauge and staggered fermion actions, that the phase transition is consistent with weak first order, contrary to the expectation of a crossover for not too large quark masses and in agreement with results obtained by the Pisa group.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables (minor typos corrected, references updated, accepted for publication on JHEP

Very-High-Energy Gamma-Ray Signal from Nuclear Photodisintegration as a Probe of Extragalactic Sources of Ultrahigh-Energy Nuclei

It is crucial to identify the ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray (UHECR) sources and probe their unknown properties. Recent results from the Pierre Auger Observatory favor a heavy nuclear composition for the UHECRs. Under the requirement that heavy nuclei survive in these sources, using gamma-ray bursts as an example, we predict a diagnostic gamma-ray signal, unique to nuclei - the emission of de-excitation gamma rays following photodisintegration. These gamma rays, boosted from MeV to TeV-PeV energies, may be detectable by gamma-ray telescopes such as VERITAS, HESS, and MAGIC, and especially the next-generation CTA and AGIS. They are a promising messenger to identify and study individual UHE nuclei accelerators.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in PRD, with extended descriptions. Conclusions unchange