65,275 research outputs found
Cut Size Statistics of Graph Bisection Heuristics
We investigate the statistical properties of cut sizes generated by heuristic
algorithms which solve approximately the graph bisection problem. On an
ensemble of sparse random graphs, we find empirically that the distribution of
the cut sizes found by ``local'' algorithms becomes peaked as the number of
vertices in the graphs becomes large. Evidence is given that this distribution
tends towards a Gaussian whose mean and variance scales linearly with the
number of vertices of the graphs. Given the distribution of cut sizes
associated with each heuristic, we provide a ranking procedure which takes into
account both the quality of the solutions and the speed of the algorithms. This
procedure is demonstrated for a selection of local graph bisection heuristics.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, submitted to SIAM Journal on Optimization also
available at http://ipnweb.in2p3.fr/~martin
Identifying capacitive and inductive loss in lumped element superconducting hybrid titanium nitride/aluminum resonators
We present a method to systematically locate and extract capacitive and
inductive losses in superconducting resonators at microwave frequencies by use
of mixed-material, lumped element devices. In these devices, ultra-low loss
titanium nitride was progressively replaced with aluminum in the
inter-digitated capacitor and meandered inductor elements. By measuring the
power dependent loss at 50 mK as the Al-TiN fraction in each element is
increased, we find that at low electric field, i.e. in the single photon limit,
the loss is two level system in nature and is correlated with the amount of Al
capacitance rather than the Al inductance. In the high electric field limit,
the remaining loss is linearly related to the product of the Al area times its
inductance and is likely due to quasiparticles generated by stray radiation. At
elevated temperature, additional loss is correlated with the amount of Al in
the inductance, with a power independent TiN-Al interface loss term that
exponentially decreases as the temperature is reduced. The TiN-Al interface
loss is vanishingly small at the 50 mK base temperature.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Variational study of the antiferromagnetic insulating phase of V2O3 based on Nth order Muffin-Tin-Orbitals
Motivated by recent results of th order muffin-tin orbital (NMTO)
implementation of the density functional theory (DFT), we re-examine
low-temperature ground-state properties of the anti-ferromagnetic insulating
phase of vanadium sesquioxide VO. The hopping matrix elements obtained
by the NMTO-downfolding procedure differ significantly from those previously
obtained in electronic structure calculations and imply that the in-plane
hopping integrals are as important as the out-of-plane ones. We use the NMTO
hopping matrix elements as input and perform a variational study of the ground
state. We show that the formation of stable molecules throughout the crystal is
not favorable in this case and that the experimentally observed magnetic
structure can still be obtained in the atomic variational regime. However the
resulting ground state (two electrons occupying the degenerate
doublet) is in contrast with many well established experimental observations.
We discuss the implications of this finding in the light of the non-local
electronic correlations certainly present in this compound.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
Do Childhood Vaccines Have Non-Specific Effects on Mortality
A recent article by Kristensen et al. suggested that measles vaccine and bacille Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine might\ud
reduce mortality beyond what is expected simply from protection against measles and tuberculosis. Previous reviews of the potential effects of childhood vaccines on mortality have not considered methodological features of reviewed studies. Methodological considerations play an especially important role in observational assessments, in which selection factors for vaccination may be difficult to ascertain. We reviewed 782 English language articles on vaccines and childhood mortality and found only a few whose design met the criteria for methodological rigor. The data reviewed suggest that measles vaccine delivers its promised reduction in mortality, but there is insufficient evidence to suggest a mortality benefit above that caused by its effect on measles disease and its sequelae. Our review of the available data in the literature reinforces how difficult answering these considerations has been and how important study design will be in determining the effect of specific vaccines on all-cause mortality.\u
Transient behavior of surface plasmon polaritons scattered at a subwavelength groove
We present a numerical study and analytical model of the optical near-field
diffracted in the vicinity of subwavelength grooves milled in silver surfaces.
The Green's tensor approach permits computation of the phase and amplitude
dependence of the diffracted wave as a function of the groove geometry. It is
shown that the field diffracted along the interface by the groove is equivalent
to replacing the groove by an oscillating dipolar line source. An analytic
expression is derived from the Green's function formalism, that reproduces well
the asymptotic surface plasmon polariton (SPP) wave as well as the transient
surface wave in the near-zone close to the groove. The agreement between this
model and the full simulation is very good, showing that the transient
"near-zone" regime does not depend on the precise shape of the groove. Finally,
it is shown that a composite diffractive evanescent wave model that includes
the asymptotic SPP can describe the wavelength evolution in this transient
near-zone. Such a semi-analytical model may be useful for the design and
optimization of more elaborate photonic circuits whose behavior in large part
will be controlled by surface waves.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure
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