4,229 research outputs found
Group Leaders Optimization Algorithm
We present a new global optimization algorithm in which the influence of the
leaders in social groups is used as an inspiration for the evolutionary
technique which is designed into a group architecture. To demonstrate the
efficiency of the method, a standard suite of single and multidimensional
optimization functions along with the energies and the geometric structures of
Lennard-Jones clusters are given as well as the application of the algorithm on
quantum circuit design problems. We show that as an improvement over previous
methods, the algorithm scales as N^2.5 for the Lennard-Jones clusters of
N-particles. In addition, an efficient circuit design is shown for two qubit
Grover search algorithm which is a quantum algorithm providing quadratic
speed-up over the classical counterpart
Prioritized Sweeping Neural DynaQ with Multiple Predecessors, and Hippocampal Replays
During sleep and awake rest, the hippocampus replays sequences of place cells
that have been activated during prior experiences. These have been interpreted
as a memory consolidation process, but recent results suggest a possible
interpretation in terms of reinforcement learning. The Dyna reinforcement
learning algorithms use off-line replays to improve learning. Under limited
replay budget, a prioritized sweeping approach, which requires a model of the
transitions to the predecessors, can be used to improve performance. We
investigate whether such algorithms can explain the experimentally observed
replays. We propose a neural network version of prioritized sweeping
Q-learning, for which we developed a growing multiple expert algorithm, able to
cope with multiple predecessors. The resulting architecture is able to improve
the learning of simulated agents confronted to a navigation task. We predict
that, in animals, learning the world model should occur during rest periods,
and that the corresponding replays should be shuffled.Comment: Living Machines 2018 (Paris, France
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Role of personality characteristics and sexual orientation in the risk for sexual addiction among Israeli men: validation of a Hebrew sex addiction scale
Men having sex with men are known to exhibit heightened sexual activity. This raises the conjecture that different sexual orientations exhibit different levels of sex addiction risk, which is also affected by personality. The present study examined the prevalence of the sex addiction risk within the context of sexual orientation and personality in Israeli men while also validating the Hebrew Bergen-Yale Sex Addiction Scale (HBYSAS). Results based on 177 participants showed that the HBYSAS is appropriate for assessing the risk for sex addiction in Israeli men. Furthermore, results showed that sex addiction risk varied with individuals’ sexual orientation while being modestly associated with higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness
Mesoscopic rings with Spin-Orbit interactions
A didactic description of charge and spin equilibrium currents on mesoscopic
rings in the presence of Spin-Orbit interaction is presented. Emphasis is made
on the non trivial construction of the correct Hamiltonian in polar
coordinates, the calculation of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions and the
symmetries of the ground state properties. Spin currents are derived following
an intuitive definition and then a more thorough derivation is built upon the
canonical Lagrangian formulation that emphasizes the SU(2) gauge structure of
the transport problem of spin 1/2 fermions in spin-orbit active media. The
quantization conditions that follow from the constraint of single-valued Pauli
spinors are also discussed. The targeted students are those of a graduate
Condensed Matter Physics course
Non-factorizable Contributions to Decays
We investigate to what extent the experimental information on
branching fractions and CP asymmetries can be used to better understand the QCD
dynamics in these decays. For this purpose we decompose the independent isospin
amplitudes into factorizable and non-factorizable contributions. The former can
be estimated within the framework of QCD factorization for exclusive
decays. The latter vanish in the heavy-quark limit, , and are
treated as unknown hadronic parameters. We discuss at some length in which way
the non-factorizable contributions are treated in different theoretical and
phenomenological frameworks. We point out the potential differences between the
phenomenological treatment of power-corrections in the ``BBNS approach'', and
the appearance of power -suppressed operators in soft-collinear effective
theory (SCET). On that basis we define a handful of different (but generic)
scenarios where the non-factorizable part of isospin amplitudes is parametrized
in terms of three or four unknowns, which can be constrained by data. We also
give some short discussion on the implications of our analysis for decays. In particular, since non-factorizable QCD effects in
may be large, we cannot exclude sizeable non-factorizable effects, which
violate flavour symmetry, or even isospin symmetry (via long-distance
QED effects). This may help to explain certain puzzles in connection with
isospin-violating observables in decays.Comment: published version, minor correction
Stochastic Invariants for Probabilistic Termination
Termination is one of the basic liveness properties, and we study the
termination problem for probabilistic programs with real-valued variables.
Previous works focused on the qualitative problem that asks whether an input
program terminates with probability~1 (almost-sure termination). A powerful
approach for this qualitative problem is the notion of ranking supermartingales
with respect to a given set of invariants. The quantitative problem
(probabilistic termination) asks for bounds on the termination probability. A
fundamental and conceptual drawback of the existing approaches to address
probabilistic termination is that even though the supermartingales consider the
probabilistic behavior of the programs, the invariants are obtained completely
ignoring the probabilistic aspect.
In this work we address the probabilistic termination problem for
linear-arithmetic probabilistic programs with nondeterminism. We define the
notion of {\em stochastic invariants}, which are constraints along with a
probability bound that the constraints hold. We introduce a concept of {\em
repulsing supermartingales}. First, we show that repulsing supermartingales can
be used to obtain bounds on the probability of the stochastic invariants.
Second, we show the effectiveness of repulsing supermartingales in the
following three ways: (1)~With a combination of ranking and repulsing
supermartingales we can compute lower bounds on the probability of termination;
(2)~repulsing supermartingales provide witnesses for refutation of almost-sure
termination; and (3)~with a combination of ranking and repulsing
supermartingales we can establish persistence properties of probabilistic
programs.
We also present results on related computational problems and an experimental
evaluation of our approach on academic examples.Comment: Full version of a paper published at POPL 2017. 20 page
Optimally combining dynamical decoupling and quantum error correction
We show how dynamical decoupling (DD) and quantum error correction (QEC) can
be optimally combined in the setting of fault tolerant quantum computing. To
this end we identify the optimal generator set of DD sequences designed to
protect quantum information encoded into stabilizer subspace or subsystem
codes. This generator set, comprising the stabilizers and logical operators of
the code, minimizes a natural cost function associated with the length of DD
sequences. We prove that with the optimal generator set the restrictive
local-bath assumption used in earlier work on hybrid DD-QEC schemes, can be
significantly relaxed, thus bringing hybrid DD-QEC schemes, and their
potentially considerable advantages, closer to realization.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur
Epigenetics as a mechanism driving polygenic clinical drug resistance
Aberrant methylation of CpG islands located at or near gene promoters is associated with inactivation of gene expression during tumour development. It is increasingly recognised that such epimutations may occur at a much higher frequency than gene mutation and therefore have a greater impact on selection of subpopulations of cells during tumour progression or acquisition of resistance to anticancer drugs. Although laboratory-based models of acquired resistance to anticancer agents tend to focus on specific genes or biochemical pathways, such 'one gene : one outcome' models may be an oversimplification of acquired resistance to treatment of cancer patients. Instead, clinical drug resistance may be due to changes in expression of a large number of genes that have a cumulative impact on chemosensitivity. Aberrant CpG island methylation of multiple genes occurring in a nonrandom manner during tumour development and during the acquisition of drug resistance provides a mechanism whereby expression of multiple genes could be affected simultaneously resulting in polygenic clinical drug resistance. If simultaneous epigenetic regulation of multiple genes is indeed a major driving force behind acquired resistance of patients' tumour to anticancer agents, this has important implications for biomarker studies of clinical outcome following chemotherapy and for clinical approaches designed to circumvent or modulate drug resistance
Initial Time Singularities in Non-Equilibrium Evolution of Condensates and Their Resolution in the Linearized Approximation
The real time non-equilibrium evolution of condensates in field theory
requires an initial value problem specifying an initial quantum state or
density matrix. Arbitrary specifications of the initial quantum state (pure or
mixed) results in initial time singularities which are not removed by the usual
renormalization counterterms. We study the initial time singularities in the
linearized equation of motion for the scalar condensate in a renormalizable
Yukawa theory in 3+1 dimensions. In this renormalizable theory the initial time
singularities are enhanced. We present a consistent method for removing these
initial time singularities by specifying initial states where the distribution
of high energy quanta is determined by the initial conditions and the
interaction effects. This is done through a Bogoliubov transformation which is
consistently obtained in a perturbative expansion.The usual renormalization
counterterms and the proper choice of the Bogoliubov coefficients lead to a
singularity free evolution equation. We establish the relationship between the
evolution equations in the linearized approximation and linear response theory.
It is found that only a very specific form of the external source for linear
response leads to a real time evolution equation which is singularity free. We
focus on the evolution of spatially inhomogeneous scalar condensates by
implementing the initial state preparation via a Bogoliubov transformation up
to one-loop. As a concrete application, the evolution equation for an
inhomogenous condensate is solved analytically and the results are carefully
analyzed. Symmetry breaking by initial quantum states is discussed.Comment: LaTex, 26 pages, 2 .ps figure
Ultraviolet through Infrared Spectral Energy Distributions from 1000 SDSS Galaxies: Dust Attenuation
The meaningful comparison of models of galaxy evolution to observations is
critically dependent on the accurate treatment of dust attenuation. To
investigate dust absorption and emission in galaxies we have assembled a sample
of ~1000 galaxies with ultraviolet (UV) through infrared (IR) photometry from
GALEX, SDSS, and Spitzer and optical spectroscopy from SDSS. The ratio of IR to
UV emission (IRX) is used to constrain the dust attenuation in galaxies. We use
the 4000A break as a robust and useful, although coarse, indicator of star
formation history (SFH). We examine the relationship between IRX and the UV
spectral slope (a common attenuation indicator at high-redshift) and find
little dependence of the scatter on 4000A break strength. We construct average
UV through far-IR spectral energy distributions (SEDs) for different ranges of
IRX, 4000A break strength, and stellar mass (M_*) to show the variation of the
entire SED with these parameters. When binned simultaneously by IRX, 4000A
break strength, and M_* these SEDs allow us to determine a low resolution
average attenuation curve for different ranges of M_*. The attenuation curves
thus derived are consistent with a lambda^{-0.7} attenuation law, and we find
no significant variations with M_*. Finally, we show the relationship between
IRX and the global stellar mass surface density and gas-phase-metallicity.
Among star forming galaxies we find a strong correlation between IRX and
stellar mass surface density, even at constant metallicity, a result that is
closely linked to the well-known correlation between IRX and star-formation
rate.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, appearing in the Dec 2007 GALEX
special issue of ApJ Supp (29 papers
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