Toric rings, inseparability and rigidity

This article provides the basic algebraic background on infinitesimal deformations and presents the proof of the well-known fact that the non-trivial infinitesimal deformations of a $K$-algebra $R$ are parameterized by the elements of cotangent module $T^1(R)$ of $R$. In this article we focus on deformations of toric rings, and give an explicit description of $T^1(R)$ in the case that $R$ is a toric ring. In particular, we are interested in unobstructed deformations which preserve the toric structure. Such deformations we call separations. Toric rings which do not admit any separation are called inseparable. We apply the theory to the edge ring of a finite graph. The coordinate ring of a convex polyomino may be viewed as the edge ring of a special class of bipartite graphs. It is shown that the coordinate ring of any convex polyomino is inseparable. We introduce the concept of semi-rigidity, and give a combinatorial description of the graphs whose edge ring is semi-rigid. The results are applied to show that for $m-k=k=3$, $G_{k,m-k}$ is not rigid while for $m-k\geq k\geq 4$, $G_{k,m-k}$ is rigid. Here $G_{k,m-k}$ is the complete bipartite graph $K_{m-k,k}$ with one edge removed.Comment: 33 pages, chapter 2 of the Book << Multigraded Algebra and Applications>> 2018, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Natur

Torus invariant divisors

Using the language of polyhedral divisors and divisorial fans we describe invariant divisors on normal varieties X which admit an effective codimension one torus action. In this picture X is given by a divisorial fan on a smooth projective curve Y. Cartier divisors on X can be described by piecewise affine functions h on the divisorial fan S whereas Weil divisors correspond to certain zero and one dimensional faces of it. Furthermore we provide descriptions of the divisor class group and the canonical divisor. Global sections of line bundles O(D_h) will be determined by a subset of a weight polytope associated to h, and global sections of specific line bundles on the underlying curve Y.Comment: 16 pages; 5 pictures; small changes in the layout, further typos remove

Nontwist non-Hamiltonian systems

We show that the nontwist phenomena previously observed in Hamiltonian systems exist also in time-reversible non-Hamiltonian systems. In particular, we study the two standard collision/reconnection scenarios and we compute the parameter space breakup diagram of the shearless torus. Besides the Hamiltonian routes, the breakup may occur due to the onset of attractors. We study these phenomena in coupled phase oscillators and in non-area-preserving maps.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Non-Hamiltonian dynamics in optical microcavities resulting from wave-inspired corrections to geometric optics

We introduce and investigate billiard systems with an adjusted ray dynamics that accounts for modifications of the conventional reflection of rays due to universal wave effects. We show that even small modifications of the specular reflection law have dramatic consequences on the phase space of classical billiards. These include the creation of regions of non-Hamiltonian dynamics, the breakdown of symmetries, and changes in the stability and morphology of periodic orbits. Focusing on optical microcavities, we show that our adjusted dynamics provides the missing ray counterpart to previously observed wave phenomena and we describe how to observe its signatures in experiments. Our findings also apply to acoustic and ultrasound waves and are important in all situations where wavelengths are comparable to system sizes, an increasingly likely situation considering the systematic reduction of the size of electronic and photonic devices.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, final published versio

Affine T-varieties of complexity one and locally nilpotent derivations

Let X=spec A be a normal affine variety over an algebraically closed field k of characteristic 0 endowed with an effective action of a torus T of dimension n. Let also D be a homogeneous locally nilpotent derivation on the normal affine Z^n-graded domain A, so that D generates a k_+-action on X that is normalized by the T-action. We provide a complete classification of pairs (X,D) in two cases: for toric varieties (n=\dim X) and in the case where n=\dim X-1. This generalizes previously known results for surfaces due to Flenner and Zaidenberg. As an application we compute the homogeneous Makar-Limanov invariant of such varieties. In particular we exhibit a family of non-rational varieties with trivial Makar-Limanov invariant.Comment: 31 pages. Minor changes in the structure. Fixed some typo

Metrical structure and the perception of time-compressed speech

In the absence of explicitly marked cues to word boundaries, listeners tend to segment spoken English at the onset of strong syllables. This may suggest that under difficult listening conditions, speech should be easier to recognize where strong syllables are word-initial. We report two experiments in which listeners were presented with sentences which had been time-compressed to make listening difficult. The first study contrasted sentences in which all content words began with strong syllables with sentences in which all content words began with weak syllables. The intelligibility of the two groups of sentences did not differ significantly. Apparent rhythmic effects in the results prompted a second experiment; however, no significant effects of systematic rhythmic manipulation were observed. In both experiments, the strongest predictor of intelligibility was the rated plausibility of the sentences. We conclude that listeners' recognition responses to time-compressed speech may be strongly subject to experiential bias; effects of rhythmic structure are most likely to show up also as bias effects

The xx-Region of Shadowing Corrections in Nucleon Structure Functions

We discuss the experimental indications on the behaviour of F_2(x,Q^2) at small x both in proton and nuclear targets. By comparing the parametrizations of the data we conclude that shadowing correction effects in a proton target can appear at a noticeable level for x=(2 - 4)\times10^{-4} and Q^2\sim 10^1 GeV^2, namely inside the HERA regime.Comment: 5 pages, Latex, no figure