Fat Fisher Zeroes

We show that it is possible to determine the locus of Fisher zeroes in the thermodynamic limit for the Ising model on planar (``fat'') phi4 random graphs and their dual quadrangulations by matching up the real part of the high and low temperature branches of the expression for the free energy. The form of this expression for the free energy also means that series expansion results for the zeroes may be obtained with rather less effort than might appear necessary at first sight by simply reverting the series expansion of a function g(z) which appears in the solution and taking a logarithm. Unlike regular 2D lattices where numerous unphysical critical points exist with non-standard exponents, the Ising model on planar phi4 graphs displays only the physical transition at c = exp (- 2 beta) = 1/4 and a mirror transition at c=-1/4 both with KPZ/DDK exponents (alpha = -1, beta = 1/2, gamma = 2). The relation between the phi4 locus and that of the dual quadrangulations is akin to that between the (regular) triangular and honeycomb lattices since there is no self-duality.Comment: 12 pages + 6 eps figure

COMPARING TRADITIONAL AND MODERN TRENDS IN JAZZ IMPROVISATION

This thesis compares traditional and modern jazz improvisation through analysis. These analyses discuss various musical techniques and ideas specific to each differing era. The case studies focus on three traditional jazz standards: Autumn Leaves, Someday My Prince Will Come, and Cantaloupe Island. Two solo transcriptions (one traditional and one modern) represent each tune, including performances by Bill Evans, Miles Davis, Paul Desmond, Herbie Hancock, Yohan Kim, and Cory Henry. The older transcriptions showcase classic chord-scale relations, diatonic chord harmony, consistent rhythms with spacious phrasing, and recalled material. The newer transcriptions consist more of dense harmony, scales independent from the composed material, unpredictable, complex rhythms, and continuous new material. Note-worthy discussion points will include arpeggiation, chord-scale and modal theory, reharmonization in chord substitution, and varying rhythm in phrasing

"The War for the Fare": How Driver Compensation Affects Bus System Performance

Two systems of bus driver compensation exist in Santiago, Chile. Most drivers are paid per passenger transported, while a second system compensates other drivers with a fixed wage. Compared with fixed-wage drivers, per-passenger drivers have incentives to engage in "La Guerra por el Boleto" ("The War for the Fare"), in which drivers change their driving patterns to compete for passengers. This paper takes advantage of a natural experiment provided by the coexistence of these two compensation schemes on similar routes in the same city. Using data on intervals between bus arrivals, we find that the fixed-wage contract leads to more bunching of buses, and hence longer average passenger wait times. The per-passenger drivers are assisted by a group of independent information intermediaries called "sapos" who earn their living by standing at bus stops, recording arrival times, and selling the information to subsequent drivers who drive past. We find that a typical bus passenger in Santiago waits roughly 10% longer for a bus on a fixed-wage route relative to an incentive-contract route. However, the incentives also lead drivers to drive noticeably more aggressively, causing approximately 67% more accidents per kilometer driven. Our results have implications for the design of incentives in public transportation systems.

The development of a cislunar space infrastructure

The primary objective of this Advanced Mission Design Program is to define the general characteristics and phased evolution of a near-Earth space infrastructure. The envisioned foundation includes a permanently manned, self-sustaining base on the lunar surface, a space station at the Libration Point between earth and the moon (L1), and a transportation system that anchors these elements to the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) station. The implementation of this conceptual design was carried out with the idea that the infrastructure is an important step in a larger plan to expand man's capabilities in space science and technology. Such expansion depends on low cost, reliable, and frequent access to space for those who wish to use the multiple benefits of this environment. The presence of a cislunar space infrastructure would greatly facilitate the staging of future planetary missions, as well as the full exploration of the lunar potential for science and industry. The rationale for, and a proposed detailed scenario in support of, the cislunar space infrastructure are discussed

Music Education for Students with Disabilities: A Guide for Teachers, Parents, and Students

The purpose of this paper is to provide some ideas, resources, and support for accommodating students with disabilities in music classes, including performing ensembles. First, we provide an overview of special education in America with a particular emphasis on music education. Next, we describe current inclusion practices that are used within the music classroom. Finally, we provide information for three groups of people involved in the music education of learners with special needs: learners, parents, and music teachers. It is hoped that this resource will be useful in making it possible to include students of all types in American music education programs. Music teachers may struggle to accommodate learners who have poor motor skill control or underdeveloped social skills. In a music classroom, teachers can select appropriate music, modify student parts, or alter performance tasks so that all students are successful at some level. In such cases, audiences are unable to tell whether a student is performing an altered part so each student can contribute at their own level. Inclusive classrooms also allow for social development for students with disabilities, because they are surrounded by a diversity of students and have more opportunities to make friends. Unlike in core subjects or other disciplines where students work alone, the music classroom is a place for collaboration, which means that students have to work together and accept each other. This can help students with social disabilities expand and improve their social skills. The core ideas of this resource coincide with the need to accommodate all students in the classroom and to advocate for the inclusion of students with disabilities

Bootstrapped Block Lanczos for large-dimension eigenvalue problems

The Lanczos algorithm has proven itself to be a valuable matrix eigensolver for problems with large dimensions, up to hundreds of millions or even tens of billions. The computational cost of using any Lanczos algorithm is dominated by the number of sparse matrix-vector multiplications until suitable convergence is reached. Block Lanczos replaces sparse matrix-vector multiplication with sparse matrix-matrix multiplication, which is more efficient, but for a randomly chosen starting block (or pivot), more multiplications are required to reach convergence. We find that a bootstrapped pivot block, that is, an initial block constructed from approximate eigenvectors computed in a truncated space, leads to a dramatically reduced number of multiplications, significantly outperforming both standard vector Lanczos and block Lanczos with a random pivot. A key condition for speed-up is that the pivot block have a non-trivial overlap with the final converged vectors. We implement this approach in a configuration-interaction code for nuclear structure, and find a reduction in time-to-solution by a factor of two or more, up to a factor of ten.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, 2 table

Biofilm-forming capability of highly virulent, multidrug-resistant Candida auris

The emerging multidrug-resistant yeast pathogen Candida auris has attracted considerable attention as a source of healthcare–associated infections. We report that this highly virulent yeast has the capacity to form antifungal resistant biofilms sensitive to the disinfectant chlorhexidine in vitro

Demonstration of Robust Quantum Gate Tomography via Randomized Benchmarking

Typical quantum gate tomography protocols struggle with a self-consistency problem: the gate operation cannot be reconstructed without knowledge of the initial state and final measurement, but such knowledge cannot be obtained without well-characterized gates. A recently proposed technique, known as randomized benchmarking tomography (RBT), sidesteps this self-consistency problem by designing experiments to be insensitive to preparation and measurement imperfections. We implement this proposal in a superconducting qubit system, using a number of experimental improvements including implementing each of the elements of the Clifford group in single `atomic' pulses and custom control hardware to enable large overhead protocols. We show a robust reconstruction of several single-qubit quantum gates, including a unitary outside the Clifford group. We demonstrate that RBT yields physical gate reconstructions that are consistent with fidelities obtained by randomized benchmarking