Fast, Scalable, and Interactive Software for Landau-de Gennes Numerical Modeling of Nematic Topological Defects

Numerical modeling of nematic liquid crystals using the tensorial Landau-de Gennes (LdG) theory provides detailed insights into the structure and energetics of the enormous variety of possible topological defect configurations that may arise when the liquid crystal is in contact with colloidal inclusions or structured boundaries. However, these methods can be computationally expensive, making it challenging to predict (meta)stable configurations involving several colloidal particles, and they are often restricted to system sizes well below the experimental scale. Here we present an open-source software package that exploits the embarrassingly parallel structure of the lattice discretization of the LdG approach. Our implementation, combining CUDA/C++ and OpenMPI, allows users to accelerate simulations using both CPU and GPU resources in either single- or multiple-core configurations. We make use of an efficient minimization algorithm, the Fast Inertial Relaxation Engine (FIRE) method, that is well-suited to large-scale parallelization, requiring little additional memory or computational cost while offering performance competitive with other commonly used methods. In multi-core operation we are able to scale simulations up to supra-micron length scales of experimental relevance, and in single-core operation the simulation package includes a user-friendly GUI environment for rapid prototyping of interfacial features and the multifarious defect states they can promote. To demonstrate this software package, we examine in detail the competition between curvilinear disclinations and point-like hedgehog defects as size scale, material properties, and geometric features are varied. We also study the effects of an interface patterned with an array of topological point-defects.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, 1 youtube link. The full catastroph

Global semantic typing for inductive and coinductive computing

Inductive and coinductive types are commonly construed as ontological (Church-style) types, denoting canonical data-sets such as natural numbers, lists, and streams. For various purposes, notably the study of programs in the context of global semantics, it is preferable to think of types as semantical properties (Curry-style). Intrinsic theories were introduced in the late 1990s to provide a purely logical framework for reasoning about programs and their semantic types. We extend them here to data given by any combination of inductive and coinductive definitions. This approach is of interest because it fits tightly with syntactic, semantic, and proof theoretic fundamentals of formal logic, with potential applications in implicit computational complexity as well as extraction of programs from proofs. We prove a Canonicity Theorem, showing that the global definition of program typing, via the usual (Tarskian) semantics of first-order logic, agrees with their operational semantics in the intended model. Finally, we show that every intrinsic theory is interpretable in a conservative extension of first-order arithmetic. This means that quantification over infinite data objects does not lead, on its own, to proof-theoretic strength beyond that of Peano Arithmetic. Intrinsic theories are perfectly amenable to formulas-as-types Curry-Howard morphisms, and were used to characterize major computational complexity classes Their extensions described here have similar potential which has already been applied

Approximate Zero Modes for the Pauli Operator on a Region

Let $\mathcal{P}_{\Omega,tA}$ denoted the Pauli operator on a bounded open region $\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^2$ with Dirichlet boundary conditions and magnetic potential $A$ scaled by some $t>0$. Assume that the corresponding magnetic field $B=\mathrm{curl}\,A$ satisfies $B\in L\log L(\Omega)\cap C^\alpha(\Omega_0)$ where $\alpha>0$ and $\Omega_0$ is an open subset of $\Omega$ of full measure (note that, the Orlicz space $L\log L(\Omega)$ contains $L^p(\Omega)$ for any $p>1$). Let $\mathsf{N}_{\Omega,tA}(\lambda)$ denote the corresponding eigenvalue counting function. We establish the strong field asymptotic formula $$\mathsf{N}_{\Omega,tA}(\lambda(t))=\frac{t}{2\pi}\int_{\Omega}\lvert B(x)\rvert\,dx\;+o(t)$$ as $t\to+\infty$, whenever $\lambda(t)=Ce^{-ct^\sigma}$ for some $\sigma\in(0,1)$ and $c,C>0$. The corresponding eigenfunctions can be viewed as a localised version of the Aharonov-Casher zero modes for the Pauli operator on $\mathbb{R}^2$.Comment: 28 pages; for the sake of clarity the main results have been reformulated and some minor presentational changes have been mad

Fixed-Target CP-Violation Experiments at Fermilab

Studies of CP violation, for 30 years focused primarily on the neutral K meson, are on the threshold of a new era as experiments approach Standard-Model sensitivities in decays of beauty, charm, and hyperons. The array of heavy-quark experiments approved and planned at Fermilab may lead to a significant breakthrough in the next five to ten years.Comment: Revised and expanded for greater clarity and completeness. 15 pages, 6 PostScript figure

Remarks on Muon g−2g-2 Experiments and Possible CP Violation in π→μ→e\pi\to\mu\to e Decay

The first experimental limit on CP violation in pi -> mu -> e decay is extracted from published results of the CERN g-2 experiment.Comment: 2 pages, LaTeX, submitted to Phys. Rev.