5,147 research outputs found
On the strategy frequency problem in batch Minority Games
Ergodic stationary states of Minority Games with S strategies per agent can
be characterised in terms of the asymptotic probabilities with which
an agent uses of his strategies. We propose here a simple and general
method to calculate these quantities in batch canonical and grand-canonical
models. Known analytic theories are easily recovered as limiting cases and, as
a further application, the strategy frequency problem for the batch
grand-canonical Minority Game with S=2 is solved. The generalization of these
ideas to multi-asset models is also presented. Though similarly based on
response function techniques, our approach is alternative to the one recently
employed by Shayeghi and Coolen for canonical batch Minority Games with
arbitrary number of strategies.Comment: 17 page
Constraining f(R) gravity with PLANCK data on galaxy cluster profiles
Models of gravity that introduce corrections to the Newtonian
potential in the weak field limit are tested at the scale of galaxy clusters.
These models can explain the dynamics of spiral and elliptical galaxies without
resorting to dark matter. We compute the pressure profiles of 579 galaxy
clusters assuming that the gas is in hydrostatic equilibrium within the
potential well of the modified gravitational field. The predicted profiles are
compared with the average profile obtained by stacking the data of our cluster
sample in the Planck foreground clean map SMICA. We find that the resulting
profiles of these systems fit the data without requiring a dominant dark matter
component, with model parameters similar to those required to explain the
dynamics of galaxies. Our results do not rule out that clusters are dynamically
dominated by Dark Matter but support the idea that Extended Theories of Gravity
could provide an explanation to the dynamics of self-gravitating systems and to
the present period of accelerated expansion, alternative to the concordance
cosmological model.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
On the transition to efficiency in Minority Games
The existence of a phase transition with diverging susceptibility in batch
Minority Games (MGs) is the mark of informationally efficient regimes and is
linked to the specifics of the agents' learning rules. Here we study how the
standard scenario is affected in a mixed population game in which agents with
the `optimal' learning rule (i.e. the one leading to efficiency) coexist with
ones whose adaptive dynamics is sub-optimal. Our generic finding is that any
non-vanishing intensive fraction of optimal agents guarantees the existence of
an efficient phase. Specifically, we calculate the dependence of the critical
point on the fraction of `optimal' agents focusing our analysis on three
cases: MGs with market impact correction, grand-canonical MGs and MGs with
heterogeneous comfort levels.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures; contribution to the special issue "Viewing the
World through Spin Glasses" in honour of David Sherrington on the occasion of
his 65th birthda
Constraining the redshift evolution of the Cosmic Microwave Background black-body temperature with PLANCK data
We constrain the deviation of adiabatic evolution of the Universe using the
data on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropies measured
by the {\it Planck} satellite and a sample of 481 X-ray selected clusters with
spectroscopically measured redshifts. To avoid antenna beam effects, we bring
all the maps to the same resolution. We use a CMB template to subtract the
cosmological signal while preserving the Thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (TSZ)
anisotropies; next, we remove galactic foreground emissions around each cluster
and we mask out all known point sources. If the CMB black-body temperature
scales with redshift as , we constrain deviations of
adiabatic evolution to be , consistent with the
temperature-redshift relation of the standard cosmological model. This result
could suffer from a potential bias associated with the CMB
template, that we quantify it to be and with the same
sign than the measured value of , but is free from those biases
associated with using TSZ selected clusters; it represents the best constraint
to date of the temperature-redshift relation of the Big-Bang model using only
CMB data, confirming previous results.Comment: ApJ, in press. Manuscript matches the accepted version: 10 pages, 7
figures, 3 table
La colaboración empresa-universidad en el ámbito de las razas ovinas autóctonas españolas: el ejemplo de Melovine
Se describe la colaboración establecida desde los años 90 hasta la actualidad
entre un laboratorio veterinario (CEVA Salud Animal) y una universidad
española (Universidad de Zaragoza), con la hormona pineal melatonina
como eje. Los objetivos fundamentales han sido la descripción de los mecanismos
básicos de actuación de esta hormona sobre la estacionalidad reproductiva
de la especie ovina y la realización de pruebas de campo en ganaderías
comerciales españolas, en un buen número de razas autóctonas, con
el fin de difundir los resultados obtenidos en condiciones reales de explotación.
Este hecho ha involucrado a todos los eslabones del sector ovino español,
desde el laboratorio, el ganadero, la cooperativa, el veterinario, las asociaciones
de defensa sanitaria, las administraciones públicas, las asociaciones
de razas, coordinados todos ellos por un departamento universitario. Se
ha trabajado con las razas autóctonas Castellana, Churra, Latxa, Manchega,
Merina, Ojalada, Ojinegra, Rasa Aragonesa, Ripollesa y Segureña, además
de otras como la Assaf y Lacaune. Se han descrito protocolos de uso de los
implantes de melatonina en ovejas adultas, corderas y moruecos, en distintos
momentos fisiológicos y sistemas de explotación. Todos ellos han sido
difundidos al sector ovino español a través de publicaciones científicas y técnicas
y a través de congresos, ponencias y cursos destinados a veterinarios
y ganaderos
A novel methodology to estimate metabolic flux distributions in constraint-based models
Quite generally, constraint-based metabolic flux analysis describes the space of viable flux configurations for a metabolic network as a high-dimensional polytope defined by the linear constraints that enforce the balancing of production and consumption fluxes for each chemical species in the system. In some cases, the complexity of the solution space can be reduced by performing an additional optimization, while in other cases, knowing the range of variability of fluxes over the polytope provides a sufficient characterization of the allowed configurations. There are cases, however, in which the thorough information encoded in the individual distributions of viable fluxes over the polytope is required. Obtaining such distributions is known to be a highly challenging computational task when the dimensionality of the polytope is sufficiently large, and the problem of developing cost-effective ad hoc algorithms has recently seen a major surge of interest. Here, we propose a method that allows us to perform the required computation heuristically in a time scaling linearly with the number of reactions in the network, overcoming some limitations of similar techniques employed in recent years. As a case study, we apply it to the analysis of the human red blood cell metabolic network, whose solution space can be sampled by different exact techniques, like Hit-and-Run Monte Carlo (scaling roughly like the third power of the system size). Remarkably accurate estimates for the true distributions of viable reaction fluxes are obtained, suggesting that, although further improvements are desirable, our method enhances our ability to analyze the space of allowed configurations for large biochemical reaction networks. © 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland
Probing gravity with PLANCK data on cluster pressure profiles
Analytical -gravity models introduce Yukawa-like corrections to the
Newtonian potential in the weak field limit. These models can explain the
dynamics of galaxies and cluster of galaxies without requiring dark matter. To
test the model, we have computed the pressure profile of 579 X-ray galaxy
clusters assuming the gas is in hydrostatic equilibrium within the potential
well of the modified gravitational potential. We have compared those profiles
with the ones measured in the foreground cleaned SMICA released by the Planck
Collaboration. Our results show that Extended Theories of Gravity explain the
dynamics of self-gravitating systems at cluster scales and represent an
alternative to dark matter haloes.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. To be published in Journal of Physics:
Conference Series (JPCS) as the Proceedings of Spanish Relativity Meeting
201
On the nature of the hard X-ray sources SWIFTJ1907.3-2050, IGRJ12123-5802 and IGRJ19552+0044
The INTEGRAL and Swift hard X-ray surveys have identified a large number of
new sources, among which many are proposed as Cataclysmic Variables (CVs). Here
we present the first detailed study of three X-ray selected CVs, Swift
J1907.3-2050, IGRJ12123-5802, and IGRJ19552+0044 based on XMM-Newton, Suzaku,
Swift observations and ground based optical and archival nIR/IR data. Swift
J1907.3-2050 is highly variable from hours to months-years at all wavelengths.
No coherent X-ray pulses are detected but rather transient features. The X-ray
spectrum reveals a multi-temperature optically thin plasma absorbed by complex
neutral material and a soft black body component arising from a small area.
These characteristics are remarkably similar to those observed in magnetic CVs.
A supra-solar abundance of nitrogen could arise from nuclear processed material
from the donor star. Swift J1907.3-2050 could be a peculiar magnetic CV with
the second longest (20.82 h) binary period. IGRJ12123-5802 is variable in the
X-rays on a timescale of ~7.6 h. No coherent pulsations are detected, but its
spectral characteristics suggest that it could be a magnetic CV of the
Intermediate Polar (IP) type. IGRJ19552+0044 shows two X-ray periods, 1.38 h
and 1.69 h and a X-ray spectrum characterized by a multi-temperature plasma
with little absorption.We derive a low accretion rate, consistent with a CV
below the orbital period gap. Its peculiar nIR/IR spectrum suggests a
contribution from cyclotron emission. It could either be a pre-polar or an IP
with the lowest degree of asynchronism.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 14 pages, 11 figures, 5 table
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