Higher dimensional abelian Chern-Simons theories and their link invariants

The role played by Deligne-Beilinson cohomology in establishing the relation between Chern-Simons theory and link invariants in dimensions higher than three is investigated. Deligne-Beilinson cohomology classes provide a natural abelian Chern-Simons action, non trivial only in dimensions $4l+3$, whose parameter $k$ is quantized. The generalized Wilson $(2l+1)$-loops are observables of the theory and their charges are quantized. The Chern-Simons action is then used to compute invariants for links of $(2l+1)$-loops, first on closed $(4l+3)$-manifolds through a novel geometric computation, then on $\mathbb{R}^{4l+3}$ through an unconventional field theoretic computation.Comment: 40 page

Generalized contact process on random environments

Spreading from a seed is studied by Monte Carlo simulation on a square lattice with two types of sites affecting the rates of birth and death. These systems exhibit a critical transition between survival and extinction. For time- dependent background, this transition is equivalent to those found in homogeneous systems (i.e. to directed percolation). For frozen backgrounds, the appearance of Griffiths phase prevents the accurate analysis of this transition. For long times in the subcritical region, spreading remains localized in compact (rather than ramified) patches, and the average number of occupied sites increases logarithmically in the surviving trials.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Gaussian Sum-Rules and Prediction of Resonance Properties

Techniques for using Gaussian QCD sum-rules to predict hadronic resonance properties are developed for single-resonance and two-resonance phenomenological models, and criteria are developed for determining which of these models is required for analyzing a particular hadronic channel. The vector current sum-rule coupled to the $\rho$ meson is shown to be consistent with a single resonance model, and the Gaussian sum-rule analysis results in an accurate $\rho$ mass prediction which exhibits excellent agreement between the theoretical prediction of the Gaussian sum-rule and the phenomenological model. A two-resonance model is shown to be necessary for the Gaussian sum-rule for the non-strange quark scalar ($\bar n n$) currents. The two-resonance Gaussian sum-rule analysis of the isoscalar and isovector ($I=0,1$) $\bar n n$ scalar mesons exhibits excellent agreement between the theoretical prediction and phenomenological model. The prediction of the resonance properties of the $I=0,1$ $\bar n n$ scalar mesons in this two-resonance model provides valuable information for the interpretation of the scalar mesons, including the X(1775).Comment: latex2e, 29 pages, 10 eps figures embedded in latex2e. Revised version includes additions to reference [28] and correction to equation (56

Galois sections for abelianized fundamental groups

Given a smooth projective curve $X$ of genus at least 2 over a number field $k$, Grothendieck's Section Conjecture predicts that the canonical projection from the \'etale fundamental group of $X$ onto the absolute Galois group of $k$ has a section if and only if the curve has a rational point. We show that there exist curves where the above map has a section over each completion of $k$ but not over $k$. In the appendix Victor Flynn gives explicit examples in genus 2. Our result is a consequence of a more general investigation of the existence of sections for the projection of the \'etale fundamental group `with abelianized geometric part' onto the Galois group. We give a criterion for the existence of sections in arbitrary dimension and over arbitrary perfect fields, and then study the case of curves over local and global fields more closely. We also point out the relation to the elementary obstruction of Colliot-Th\'el\`ene and Sansuc.Comment: This is the published version, except for a characteristic 0 assumption added in Section 5 which was unfortunately omitted there. Thanks to O. Wittenberg for noticing i

PlatoSim: an end-to-end PLATO camera simulator for modelling high-precision space-based photometry

Context. PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) is the ESA M3 space mission dedicated to detect and characterise transiting exoplanets including information from the asteroseismic properties of their stellar hosts. The uninterrupted and high-precision photometry provided by space-borne instruments such as PLATO require long preparatory phases. An exhaustive list of tests are paramount to design a mission that meets the performance requirements and, as such, simulations are an indispensable tool in the mission preparation. Aims. To accommodate PLATO’s need of versatile simulations prior to mission launch that at the same time describe innovative yet complex multi-telescope design accurately, in this work we present the end-to-end PLATO simulator specifically developed for that purpose, namely PlatoSim. We show, step-by-step, the algorithms embedded into the software architecture of PlatoSim that allow the user to simulate photometric time series of charge-coupled device (CCD) images and light curves in accordance to the expected observations of PLATO. Methods. In the context of the PLATO payload, a general formalism of modelling, end-to-end, incoming photons from the sky to the final measurement in digital units is discussed. According to the light path through the instrument, we present an overview of the stellar field and sky background, the short- and long-term barycentric pixel displacement of the stellar sources, the cameras and their optics, the modelling of the CCDs and their electronics, and all main random and systematic noise sources. Results. We show the strong predictive power of PlatoSim through its diverse applicability and contribution to numerous working groups within the PLATO mission consortium. This involves the ongoing mechanical integration and alignment, performance studies of the payload, the pipeline development, and assessments of the scientific goals. Conclusions. PlatoSim is a state-of-the-art simulator that is able to produce the expected photometric observations of PLATO to a high level of accuracy. We demonstrate that PlatoSim is a key software tool for the PLATO mission in the preparatory phases until mission launch and prospectively beyond

Noncommutative Geometry in the Framework of Differential Graded Categories

In this survey article we discuss a framework of noncommutative geometry with differential graded categories as models for spaces. We outline a construction of the category of noncommutative spaces and also include a discussion on noncommutative motives. We propose a motivic measure with values in a motivic ring. This enables us to introduce certain zeta functions of noncommutative spaces.Comment: 19 pages. Minor corrections and one reference added; to appear in the proceedings volume of AGAQ Istanbul, 200

PlatoSim: an end-to-end PLATO camera simulator for modelling high-precision space-based photometry

Context. PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) is the ESA M3 space mission dedicated to detect and characterise transiting exoplanets including information from the asteroseismic properties of their stellar hosts. The uninterrupted and high-precision photometry provided by space-borne instruments such as PLATO require long preparatory phases. An exhaustive list of tests are paramount to design a mission that meets the performance requirements and as such simulations are an indispensable tool in the mission preparation. Aims. To accommodate PLATOs need of versatile simulations prior to mission launch that at the same time describe innovative yet complex multi-telescope design accurately, in this work we present the end-to-end PLATO simulator specifically developed for that purpose, namely PlatoSim. We show, step-by-step, the algorithms embedded into the software architecture of PlatoSim that allow the user to simulate photometric time series of charge-coupled device (CCD) images and light curves in accordance to the expected observations of PLATO. Methods. In the context of the PLATO payload, a general formalism of modelling, end-to-end, incoming photons from the sky to the final measurement in digital units is discussed. According to the light path through the instrument, we present an overview of the stellar field and sky background, the short- and long-term barycentric pixel displacement of the stellar sources, the cameras and their optics, the modelling of the CCDs and their electronics, and all main random and systematic noise sources. Results. We show the strong predictive power of PlatoSim through its diverse applicability and contribution to numerous working groups within the PLATO mission consortium. This involves the ongoing mechanical integration and alignment, performance studies of the payload, the pipeline development, and assessments of the scientific goals. Conclusions. PlatoSim is a state-of-the-art simulator that is able to produce the expected photometric observations of PLATO to a high level of accuracy. We demonstrate that PlatoSim is a key software tool for the PLATO mission in the preparatory phases until mission launch and prospectively beyond

Of Human Observers and Deep Neural Networks: A Detailed Psychophysical Comparison

Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have recently been put forward as computational models for feedforward processing in the human and monkey ventral streams. Not only do they achieve human-level performance in image classification tasks, recent studies also found striking similarities between DNNs and ventral stream processing systems in terms of the learned representations (e.g. Cadieu et al., 2014, PLOS Comput. Biol.) or the spatial and temporal stages of processing (Cichy et al., 2016, arXiv). In order to obtain a more precise understanding of the similarities and differences between current DNNs and the human visual system, we here investigate how classification accuracies depend on image properties such as colour, contrast, the amount of additive visual noise, as well as on image distortions resulting from the Eidolon Factory. We report results from a series of image classification (object recognition) experiments on both human observers and three DNNs (AlexNet, VGG-16, GoogLeNet). We used experimental conditions favouring single-fixation, purely feedforward processing in human observers (short presentation time of t = 200 ms followed by a high contrast mask); additionally, we used exactly the same images from 16 basic level categories for human observers and DNNs. Under non-manipulated conditions we find that DNNs indeed outperformed human observers (96.2 correct versus 88.5; colour, full-contrast, noise-free images). However, human observers clearly outperformed DNNs for all of the image degrading manipulations: most strikingly, DNN performance severely breaks down with even small quantities of visual random noise. Our findings reinforce how robust the human visual system is against various image degradations, and indicate that there may still be marked differences in the way the human visual system and the three tested DNNs process visual information. We discuss which differences between known properties of the early and higher visual system and DNNs may be responsible for the behavioural discrepancies we find