Critical thermodynamics of the two-dimensional +/-J Ising spin glass

We compute the exact partition function of 2d Ising spin glasses with binary couplings. In these systems, the ground state is highly degenerate and is separated from the first excited state by a gap of size 4J. Nevertheless, we find that the low temperature specific heat density scales as exp(-2J/T), corresponding to an ``effective'' gap of size 2J; in addition, an associated cross-over length scale grows as exp(J/T). We justify these scalings via the degeneracy of the low-lying excitations and by the way low energy domain walls proliferate in this model

Video augmentation to support video-based learning

Multimedia content and video-based learning are expected to take a central role in the post-pandemic world. Thus, providing new advanced interfaces and services that further exploit their potential becomes of paramount importance. A challenging area deals with developing intelligent visual interfaces that integrate the knowledge extracted from multimedia materials into educational applications. In this respect, we designed a web-based video player that is aimed to support video consumption by exploiting the knowledge extracted from the video in terms of concepts explained in the video and prerequisite relations between them. This knowledge is used to augment the video lesson through visual feedback methods. Specifically, in this paper we investigate the use of two types of visual feedback, i.e. an augmented transcript and a dynamic concept map (map of concept's flow), to improve video comprehension in the first-watch learning context. Our preliminary findings suggest that both the methods help the learner to focus on the relevant concepts and their related contents. The augmented transcript has an higher impact on immediate comprehension compared to the map of concepts' flow, even though the latter is expected to be more powerful to support other tasks such as exploration and in-depth analysis of the concepts in the video

Gauge and Poincare' Invariant Regularization and Hopf Symmetries

We consider the regularization of a gauge quantum field theory following a modification of the Polchinski proof based on the introduction of a cutoff function. We work with a Poincare' invariant deformation of the ordinary point-wise product of fields introduced by Ardalan, Arfaei, Ghasemkhani and Sadooghi, and show that it yields, through a limiting procedure of the cutoff functions, to a regularized theory, preserving all symmetries at every stage. The new gauge symmetry yields a new Hopf algebra with deformed co-structures, which is inequivalent to the standard one.Comment: Revised version. 14 pages. Incorrect statements eliminate

A generalized Kac-Ward formula

The Kac-Ward formula allows to compute the Ising partition function on a planar graph G with straight edges from the determinant of a matrix of size 2N, where N denotes the number of edges of G. In this paper, we extend this formula to any finite graph: the partition function can be written as an alternating sum of the determinants of 2^{2g} matrices of size 2N, where g is the genus of an orientable surface in which G embeds. We give two proofs of this generalized formula. The first one is purely combinatorial, while the second relies on the Fisher-Kasteleyn reduction of the Ising model to the dimer model, and on geometric techniques. As a consequence of this second proof, we also obtain the following fact: the Kac-Ward and the Fisher-Kasteleyn methods to solve the Ising model are one and the same.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures; minor corrections in v2; to appear in J. Stat. Mech. Theory Ex

Error threshold in the evolution of diploid organisms

The effects of error propagation in the reproduction of diploid organisms are studied within the populational genetics framework of the quasispecies model. The dependence of the error threshold on the dominance parameter is fully investigated. In particular, it is shown that dominance can protect the wild-type alleles from the error catastrophe. The analysis is restricted to a diploid analogue of the single-peaked landscape.Comment: 9 pages, 4 Postscript figures. Submitted to J. Phy. A: Mat. and Ge

IL DIVIETO DI MATRIMONIO MISTO NEI DIRITTI RELIGIOSI:DIRITTO CANONICO E DIRITTO EBRAICO A CONFRONTO

Starting from an analysis of the discipline of the prohibition of mixed marriages in canon law and in jewish law, this research aims to clarify if, how and under what conditions the religious laws taken into consideration exceed the prohibition of mixed marriages and show characters of flexibility/dynamism and openness in attitude towards the followers of other faiths, and towards the followers of own faith, balancing authority and freedom

Diffusion on a hypercubic lattice with pinning potential: exact results for the error-catastrophe problem in biological evolution

In the theoretical biology framework one fundamental problem is the so-called error catastrophe in Darwinian evolution models. We reexamine Eigen's fundamental equations by mapping them into a polymer depinning transition problem in a ``genotype'' space represented by a unitary hypercubic lattice. The exact solution of the model shows that error catastrophe arises as a direct consequence of the equations involved and confirms some previous qualitative results. The physically relevant consequence is that such equations are not adequate to properly describe evolution of complex life on the Earth.Comment: 10 pages in LaTeX. Figures are available from the authors. [email protected] (e-mail address

On measurement-based quantum computation with the toric code states

We study measurement-based quantum computation (MQC) using as quantum resource the planar code state on a two-dimensional square lattice (planar analogue of the toric code). It is shown that MQC with the planar code state can be efficiently simulated on a classical computer if at each step of MQC the sets of measured and unmeasured qubits correspond to connected subsets of the lattice.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Fermions and Loops on Graphs. II. Monomer-Dimer Model as Series of Determinants

We continue the discussion of the fermion models on graphs that started in the first paper of the series. Here we introduce a Graphical Gauge Model (GGM) and show that : (a) it can be stated as an average/sum of a determinant defined on the graph over $\mathbb{Z}_{2}$ (binary) gauge field; (b) it is equivalent to the Monomer-Dimer (MD) model on the graph; (c) the partition function of the model allows an explicit expression in terms of a series over disjoint directed cycles, where each term is a product of local contributions along the cycle and the determinant of a matrix defined on the remainder of the graph (excluding the cycle). We also establish a relation between the MD model on the graph and the determinant series, discussed in the first paper, however, considered using simple non-Belief-Propagation choice of the gauge. We conclude with a discussion of possible analytic and algorithmic consequences of these results, as well as related questions and challenges.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures; misprints correcte

The Tangled Nature model as an evolving quasi-species model

We show that the Tangled Nature model can be interpreted as a general formulation of the quasi-species model by Eigen et al. in a frequency dependent fitness landscape. We present a detailed theoretical derivation of the mutation threshold, consistent with the simulation results, that provides a valuable insight into how the microscopic dynamics of the model determine the observed macroscopic phenomena published previously. The dynamics of the Tangled Nature model is defined on the microevolutionary time scale via reproduction, with heredity, variation, and natural selection. Each organism reproduces with a rate that is linked to the individuals' genetic sequence and depends on the composition of the population in genotype space. Thus the microevolutionary dynamics of the fitness landscape is regulated by, and regulates, the evolution of the species by means of the mutual interactions. At low mutation rate, the macro evolutionary pattern mimics the fossil data: periods of stasis, where the population is concentrated in a network of coexisting species, is interrupted by bursts of activity. As the mutation rate increases, the duration and the frequency of bursts increases. Eventually, when the mutation rate reaches a certain threshold, the population is spread evenly throughout the genotype space showing that natural selection only leads to multiple distinct species if adaptation is allowed time to cause fixation.Comment: Paper submitted to Journal of Physics A. 13 pages, 4 figure