Overlap singularity and time evolution in integrable quantum field theory

We study homogeneous quenches in integrable quantum field theory where the initial state contains zero-momentum particles. We demonstrate that the two-particle pair amplitude necessarily has a singularity at the two-particle threshold. Albeit the explicit discussion is carried out for special (integrable) initial states, we argue that the singularity is inevitably present and is a generic feature of homogeneous quenches involving the creation of zero momentum particles. We also identify the singularity in quenches in the Ising model across the quantum critical point, and compute it perturbatively in phase quenches in the quantum sine-Gordon model which are potentially relevant to experiments. We then construct the explicit time dependence of one-point functions using a linked cluster expansion regulated by a finite volume parameter. We find that the secular contribution normally linear in time is modified by a $t\ln t$ term. We additionally encounter a novel type of secular contribution which is shown to be related to parametric resonance. It is an interesting open question to resum the new contributions and to establish their consequences directly observable in experiments or numerical simulations.Comment: 30+45 pages, 7 figure

Fast ALS-based tensor factorization for context-aware recommendation from implicit feedback

Albeit, the implicit feedback based recommendation problem - when only the user history is available but there are no ratings - is the most typical setting in real-world applications, it is much less researched than the explicit feedback case. State-of-the-art algorithms that are efficient on the explicit case cannot be straightforwardly transformed to the implicit case if scalability should be maintained. There are few if any implicit feedback benchmark datasets, therefore new ideas are usually experimented on explicit benchmarks. In this paper, we propose a generic context-aware implicit feedback recommender algorithm, coined iTALS. iTALS apply a fast, ALS-based tensor factorization learning method that scales linearly with the number of non-zero elements in the tensor. The method also allows us to incorporate diverse context information into the model while maintaining its computational efficiency. In particular, we present two such context-aware implementation variants of iTALS. The first incorporates seasonality and enables to distinguish user behavior in different time intervals. The other views the user history as sequential information and has the ability to recognize usage pattern typical to certain group of items, e.g. to automatically tell apart product types or categories that are typically purchased repetitively (collectibles, grocery goods) or once (household appliances). Experiments performed on three implicit datasets (two proprietary ones and an implicit variant of the Netflix dataset) show that by integrating context-aware information with our factorization framework into the state-of-the-art implicit recommender algorithm the recommendation quality improves significantly.Comment: Accepted for ECML/PKDD 2012, presented on 25th September 2012, Bristol, U

Collaborative Filtering via Group-Structured Dictionary Learning

Structured sparse coding and the related structured dictionary learning problems are novel research areas in machine learning. In this paper we present a new application of structured dictionary learning for collaborative filtering based recommender systems. Our extensive numerical experiments demonstrate that the presented technique outperforms its state-of-the-art competitors and has several advantages over approaches that do not put structured constraints on the dictionary elements.Comment: A compressed version of the paper has been accepted for publication at the 10th International Conference on Latent Variable Analysis and Source Separation (LVA/ICA 2012

Quantum Integrability vs Experiments: Correlation Functions and Dynamical Structure Factors

Integrable Quantum Field Theories can be solved exactly using bootstrap techniques based on their elastic and factorisable S-matrix. While knowledge of the scattering amplitudes reveals the exact spectrum of particles and their on-shell dynamics, the expression of the matrix elements of the various operators allows the reconstruction of off-shell quantities such as two-point correlation functions with a high level of precision. In this review, we summarise results relevant to the contact point between theory and experiment providing a number of quantities that can be computed theoretically with great accuracy. We concentrate on universal amplitude ratios which can be determined from the measurement of generalised susceptibilities, and dynamical structure factors, which can be accessed experimentally e.g. via inelastic neutron scattering or nuclear magnetic resonance. Besides an overview of the subject and a summary of recent advances, we also present new results regarding generalised susceptibilities in the tricritical Ising universality class.Comment: 53 pages, 12 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2109.0976

Variations on vacuum decay: the scaling Ising and tricritical Ising field theories

We study the decay of the false vacuum in the scaling Ising and tricritical Ising field theories using the Truncated Conformal Space Approach and compare the numerical results to theoretical predictions in the thin wall limit. In the Ising case, the results are consistent with previous studies on the quantum spin chain and the $\varphi^4$ quantum field theory; in particular we confirm that while the theoretical predictions get the dependence of the bubble nucleation rate on the latent heat right, they are off by a model dependent overall coefficient. The tricritical Ising model allows us on the other hand to examine more exotic vacuum degeneracy structures, such as three vacua or two asymmetric vacua, which leads us to study several novel scenarios of false vacuum decay by lifting the vacuum degeneracy using different perturbations.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figures, 3 table

Does Incentive Provision Increase the Quality of Peer Review? An Experimental Study

Although peer review is crucial for innovation and experimental discoveries in science, it is poorly understood in scientific terms. Discovering its true dynamics and exploring adjustments which improve the commitment of everyone involved could benefit scientific development for all disciplines and consequently increase innovation in the economy and the society. We have reported the results of an innovative experiment developed to model peer review. We demonstrate that offering material rewards to referees tends to decrease the quality and efficiency of the reviewing process. Our findings help to discuss the viability of different options of incentive provision, supporting the idea that journal editors and responsible of research funding agencies should be extremely careful in offering material incentives on reviewing, since these might undermine moral motives which guide referees' behavior

Scaling Functions in the Odd Charge Sector of Sine-Gordon/Massive Thirring Theory

A non-linear integral equation (NLIE) governing the finite size effects of excited states of even topological charge in the sine-Gordon (sG) / massive Thirring (mTh) field theory, deducible from a light-cone lattice formulation of the model, has been known for some time. In this letter we conjecture an extension of this NLIE to states with odd topological charge, thus completing the spectrum of the theory. The scaling functions obtained as solutions to our conjectured NLIE are compared successfully with Truncated Conformal Space data and the construction is shown to be compatible with all other facts known about the local Hilbert spaces of sG and mTh models. With the present results we have achieved a full control over the finite size behaviour of energy levels of sG/mTh theory.Comment: LaTeX2e, 12 pp., 3 eps figs. Remarks on locality adde