1,586 research outputs found
Greedy Selfish Network Creation
We introduce and analyze greedy equilibria (GE) for the well-known model of
selfish network creation by Fabrikant et al.[PODC'03]. GE are interesting for
two reasons: (1) they model outcomes found by agents which prefer smooth
adaptations over radical strategy-changes, (2) GE are outcomes found by agents
which do not have enough computational resources to play optimally. In the
model of Fabrikant et al. agents correspond to Internet Service Providers which
buy network links to improve their quality of network usage. It is known that
computing a best response in this model is NP-hard. Hence, poly-time agents are
likely not to play optimally. But how good are networks created by such agents?
We answer this question for very simple agents. Quite surprisingly, naive
greedy play suffices to create remarkably stable networks. Specifically, we
show that in the SUM version, where agents attempt to minimize their average
distance to all other agents, GE capture Nash equilibria (NE) on trees and that
any GE is in 3-approximate NE on general networks. For the latter we also
provide a lower bound of 3/2 on the approximation ratio. For the MAX version,
where agents attempt to minimize their maximum distance, we show that any
GE-star is in 2-approximate NE and any GE-tree having larger diameter is in
6/5-approximate NE. Both bounds are tight. We contrast these positive results
by providing a linear lower bound on the approximation ratio for the MAX
version on general networks in GE. This result implies a locality gap of
for the metric min-max facility location problem, where n is the
number of clients.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures. An extended abstract of this work was accepted
at WINE'1
Visualization of requirements engineering data to analyse the current product maturity in the early phase of product development
Spectral Properties of delta-Plutonium: Sensitivity to 5f Occupancy
By combining the local density approximation (LDA) with dynamical mean field
theory (DMFT), we report a systematic analysis of the spectral properties of
-plutonium with varying occupancy. The LDA Hamiltonian is
extracted from a tight-binding (TB) fit to full-potential linearized augmented
plane-wave (FP-LAPW) calculations. The DMFT equations are solved by the exact
quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method and the Hubbard-I approximation. We have shown
for the first time the strong sensitivity of the spectral properties to the
occupancy, which suggests using this occupancy as a fitting parameter in
addition to the Hubbard . By comparing with PES data, we conclude that the
``open shell'' configuration gives the best agreement, resolving the
controversy over ``open shell'' versus ``close shell'' atomic
configurations in -Pu.Comment: 6 pages, 2 embedded color figures, to appear in Physical Review
A general lower bound for collaborative tree exploration
We consider collaborative graph exploration with a set of agents. All
agents start at a common vertex of an initially unknown graph and need to
collectively visit all other vertices. We assume agents are deterministic,
vertices are distinguishable, moves are simultaneous, and we allow agents to
communicate globally. For this setting, we give the first non-trivial lower
bounds that bridge the gap between small () and large () teams of agents. Remarkably, our bounds tightly connect to existing results
in both domains.
First, we significantly extend a lower bound of
by Dynia et al. on the competitive ratio of a collaborative tree exploration
strategy to the range for any . Second,
we provide a tight lower bound on the number of agents needed for any
competitive exploration algorithm. In particular, we show that any
collaborative tree exploration algorithm with agents has a
competitive ratio of , while Dereniowski et al. gave an algorithm
with agents and competitive ratio , for any
and with denoting the diameter of the graph. Lastly, we
show that, for any exploration algorithm using agents, there exist
trees of arbitrarily large height that require rounds, and we
provide a simple algorithm that matches this bound for all trees
Time-Dependent Current Partition in Mesoscopic Conductors
The currents at the terminals of a mesoscopic conductor are evaluated in the
presence of slowly oscillating potentials applied to the contacts of the
sample. The need to find a charge and current conserving solution to this
dynamic current partition problem is emphasized. We present results for the
electro-chemical admittance describing the long range Coulomb interaction in a
Hartree approach. For multiply connected samples we discuss the symmetry of the
admittance under reversal of an Aharonov-Bohm flux.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures upon request, IBM RC 1971
Probability of local bifurcation type from a fixed point: A random matrix perspective
Results regarding probable bifurcations from fixed points are presented in
the context of general dynamical systems (real, random matrices), time-delay
dynamical systems (companion matrices), and a set of mappings known for their
properties as universal approximators (neural networks). The eigenvalue spectra
is considered both numerically and analytically using previous work of Edelman
et. al. Based upon the numerical evidence, various conjectures are presented.
The conclusion is that in many circumstances, most bifurcations from fixed
points of large dynamical systems will be due to complex eigenvalues.
Nevertheless, surprising situations are presented for which the aforementioned
conclusion is not general, e.g. real random matrices with Gaussian elements
with a large positive mean and finite variance.Comment: 21 pages, 19 figure
Independent measurement of the Hoyle state feeding from 12B using Gammasphere
Using an array of high-purity Compton-suppressed germanium detectors, we
performed an independent measurement of the -decay branching ratio from
to the second-excited (Hoyle) state in . Our
result is , which is a factor smaller than the previously
established literature value, but is in agreement with another recent
measurement. This could indicate that the Hoyle state is more clustered than
previously believed. The angular correlation of the Hoyle state
cascade has also been measured for the first time. It is consistent with
theoretical predictions
A Match in Time Saves Nine: Deterministic Online Matching With Delays
We consider the problem of online Min-cost Perfect Matching with Delays
(MPMD) introduced by Emek et al. (STOC 2016). In this problem, an even number
of requests appear in a metric space at different times and the goal of an
online algorithm is to match them in pairs. In contrast to traditional online
matching problems, in MPMD all requests appear online and an algorithm can
match any pair of requests, but such decision may be delayed (e.g., to find a
better match). The cost is the sum of matching distances and the introduced
delays.
We present the first deterministic online algorithm for this problem. Its
competitive ratio is , where is the
number of requests. This is polynomial in the number of metric space points if
all requests are given at different points. In particular, the bound does not
depend on other parameters of the metric, such as its aspect ratio. Unlike
previous (randomized) solutions for the MPMD problem, our algorithm does not
need to know the metric space in advance
Interaction imaging with amplitude-dependence force spectroscopy
Knowledge of surface forces is the key to understanding a large number of
processes in fields ranging from physics to material science and biology. The
most common method to study surfaces is dynamic atomic force microscopy (AFM).
Dynamic AFM has been enormously successful in imaging surface topography, even
to atomic resolution, but the force between the AFM tip and the surface remains
unknown during imaging. Here, we present a new approach that combines high
accuracy force measurements and high resolution scanning. The method, called
amplitude-dependence force spectroscopy (ADFS) is based on the
amplitude-dependence of the cantilever's response near resonance and allows for
separate determination of both conservative and dissipative tip-surface
interactions. We use ADFS to quantitatively study and map the nano-mechanical
interaction between the AFM tip and heterogeneous polymer surfaces. ADFS is
compatible with commercial atomic force microscopes and we anticipate its
wide-spread use in taking AFM toward quantitative microscopy
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