Simple Pricing Schemes for the Cloud

The problem of pricing the cloud has attracted much recent attention due to the widespread use of cloud computing and cloud services. From a theoretical perspective, several mechanisms that provide strong efficiency or fairness guarantees and desirable incentive properties have been designed. However, these mechanisms often rely on a rigid model, with several parameters needing to be precisely known in order for the guarantees to hold. In this paper, we consider a stochastic model and show that it is possible to obtain good welfare and revenue guarantees with simple mechanisms that do not make use of the information on some of these parameters. In particular, we prove that a mechanism that sets the same price per time step for jobs of any length achieves at least 50% of the welfare and revenue obtained by a mechanism that can set different prices for jobs of different lengths, and the ratio can be improved if we have more specific knowledge of some parameters. Similarly, a mechanism that sets the same price for all servers even though the servers may receive different kinds of jobs can provide a reasonable welfare and revenue approximation compared to a mechanism that is allowed to set different prices for different servers.Comment: To appear in the 13th Conference on Web and Internet Economics (WINE), 2017. A preliminary version was presented at the 12th Workshop on the Economics of Networks, Systems and Computation (NetEcon), 201

Thermal surveillance of Cascade Range volcanoes using ERTS-1 multispectral scanner, aircraft imaging systems, and ground-based data communication platforms

A combination of infrared images depicting areas of thermal emission and ground calibration points have proved to be particularly useful in plotting time-dependent changes in surface temperatures and radiance and in delimiting areas of predominantly convective heat flow to the earth's surface in the Cascade Range and on Surtsey Volcano, Iceland. In an integrated experiment group using ERTS-1 multispectral scanner (MSS) and aircraft infrared imaging systems in conjunction with multiple thermistor arrays, volcano surface temperatures are relayed daily to Washington via data communication platform (DCP) transmitters and ERTS-1. ERTS-1 MSS imagery has revealed curvilinear structures at Lassen, the full extent of which have not been previously mapped. Interestingly, the major surface thermal manifestations at Lassen are aligned along these structures, particularly in the Warner Valley

Combinatorial Games with a Pass: A dynamical systems approach

By treating combinatorial games as dynamical systems, we are able to address a longstanding open question in combinatorial game theory, namely, how the introduction of a "pass" move into a game affects its behavior. We consider two well known combinatorial games, 3-pile Nim and 3-row Chomp. In the case of Nim, we observe that the introduction of the pass dramatically alters the game's underlying structure, rendering it considerably more complex, while for Chomp, the pass move is found to have relatively minimal impact. We show how these results can be understood by recasting these games as dynamical systems describable by dynamical recursion relations. From these recursion relations we are able to identify underlying structural connections between these "games with passes" and a recently introduced class of "generic (perturbed) games." This connection, together with a (non-rigorous) numerical stability analysis, allows one to understand and predict the effect of a pass on a game.Comment: 39 pages, 13 figures, published versio

Third Earth Resources Technology Satellite Symposium. Volume 3: Discipline summary reports

Presentations at the conference covered the following disciplines: (1) agriculture, forestry, and range resources; (2) land use and mapping; (3) mineral resources, geological structure, and landform surveys; (4) water resources; (5) marine resources; (6) environment surveys; and (7) interpretation techniques

Third Earth Resources Technology Satellite Symposium. Volume 2: Summary of results

Summaries are provided of significant results taken from presentations at the symposium along with some typical examples of the applications of ERTS-1 data for solving resources management problems at the national, state, and local levels

Multi-Kˉ\bar{K} nuclei and kaon condensation

We extend previous relativistic mean-field (RMF) calculations of multi-$\bar K$ nuclei, using vector boson fields with SU(3) PPV coupling constants and scalar boson fields constrained phenomenologically. For a given core nucleus, the resulting $\bar K$ separation energy $B_{\bar K}$, as well as the associated nuclear and $\bar K$-meson densities, saturate with the number $\kappa$ of $\bar K$ mesons for $\kappa > \kappa_{\rm sat} \sim 10$. Saturation appears robust against a wide range of variations, including the RMF nuclear model used and the type of boson fields mediating the strong interactions. Because $B_{\bar K}$ generally does not exceed 200 MeV, it is argued that multi-$\bar K$ nuclei do not compete with multihyperonic nuclei in providing the ground state of strange hadronic configurations and that kaon condensation is unlikely to occur in strong-interaction self-bound strange hadronic matter. Last, we explore possibly self-bound strange systems made of neutrons and ${\bar K}^0$ mesons, or protons and $K^-$ mesons, and study their properties.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, revised text and reference

Observation of Strong Coulomb Blockade in Resistively Isolated Tunnel Junctions

We report measurements of the Coulomb-blockade current in resistively isolated (R_{Isol} >> h/e^{2}) tunnel junctions for the temperature range 60mK $We report measurements of the Coulomb-blockade current in resistively isolated ($R_{Isol}\gg h/e^{2})$ tunnel junctions for the temperature range 60mK < T < 230mK where the charging energy E_{c} is much greater than the thermal energy. A zero-bias resistance R_{0} of up to 10^{4}R_{T} (the tunnel resistance of the bare junction) is obtained. For eV << E_{c}, the I-V curves for a given R_{Isol} scale as a function of V/T, with I \propto V^{\alpha (R_{Isol})} over a range of V. The data agree well with numerical calculations of the tunneling rate that include environmental effects.Comment: 13 pages, 3 eps figure

K−K^--Nucleus Scattering at Low and Intermediate Energies

We calculate $K^-$-nucleus elastic differential, reaction and total cross sections for different nuclei ($^{12}$C,$^{40}$Ca and $^{208}$Pb) at several laboratory antikaon momenta, ranging from 127 MeV to 800 MeV. We use different antikaon-nucleus optical potentials, some of them fitted to kaonic atom data, and study the sensitivity of the cross sections to the considered antikaon-nucleus dynamics.Comment: Only 4 pages, Latex, 3 Figures. This version is much shorter than the previous one. Some details and references have been omitte