Destabilization by noise of tranverse perturbations to heteroclinic cycles: a simple model and an example from dynamo theory

We show that transverse perturbations from structurally stable heteroclinic cycles can be destabilized by surprisingly small amounts of noise, even when each individual fixed point of the cycle is stable to transverse modes. A condition that favours this process is that the linearization of the dynamics in the transverse direction be characterized by a non-normal matrix. The phenomenon is illustrated by a simple two-dimensional switching model and by a simulation of a convectively driven dynamo

Queues don't matter when you can JUMP them!

QJUMP is a simple and immediately deployable approach to controlling network interference in datacenter networks. Network interference occurs when congestion from throughput-intensive applications causes queueing that delays traffic from latency-sensitive applications. To mitigate network interference, QJUMP applies Internet QoS-inspired techniques to datacenter applications. Each application is assigned to a latency sensitivity level (or class). Packets from higher levels are rate-limited in the end host, but once allowed into the network can “jump-the-queue” over packets from lower levels. In settings with known node counts and link speeds, QJUMP can support service levels ranging from strictly bounded latency (but with low rate) through to line-rate throughput (but with high latency variance). We have implemented QJUMP as a Linux Traffic Control module. We show that QJUMP achieves bounded latency and reduces in-network interference by up to 300×, outperforming Ethernet Flow Control (802.3x), ECN (WRED) and DCTCP. We also show that QJUMP improves average flow completion times, performing close to or better than DCTCP and pFabric.This work was supported by a Google Fellowship, EPSRC INTERNET Project EP/H040536/1, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), under contract FA8750-11-C-0249.This is the final published version. It first appeared at https://www.usenix.org/conference/nsdi15/technical-sessions/presentation/grosvenor

Holographic analysis of diffraction structure factors

We combine the theory of inside-source/inside-detector x-ray fluorescence holography and Kossel lines/x ray standing waves in kinematic approximation to directly obtain the phases of the diffraction structure factors. The influence of Kossel lines and standing waves on holography is also discussed. We obtain partial phase determination from experimental data obtaining the sign of the real part of the structure factor for several reciprocal lattice vectors of a vanadium crystal.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitte

Analysis of symmetries in models of multi-strain infections

In mathematical studies of the dynamics of multi-strain diseases caused by antigenically diverse pathogens, there is a substantial interest in analytical insights. Using the example of a generic model of multi-strain diseases with cross-immunity between strains, we show that a significant understanding of the stability of steady states and possible dynamical behaviours can be achieved when the symmetry of interactions between strains is taken into account. Techniques of equivariant bifurcation theory allow one to identify the type of possible symmetry-breaking Hopf bifurcation, as well as to classify different periodic solutions in terms of their spatial and temporal symmetries. The approach is also illustrated on other models of multi-strain diseases, where the same methodology provides a systematic understanding of bifurcation scenarios and periodic behaviours. The results of the analysis are quite generic, and have wider implications for understanding the dynamics of a large class of models of multi-strain diseases

Kairos: Preemptive Data Center Scheduling Without Runtime Estimates

The vast majority of data center schedulers use task runtime estimates to improve the quality of their scheduling decisions. Knowledge about runtimes allows the schedulers, among other things, to achieve better load balance and to avoid head-of-line blocking. Obtaining accurate runtime estimates is, however, far from trivial, and erroneous estimates lead to sub-optimal scheduling decisions. Techniques to mitigate the effect of inaccurate estimates have shown some success, but the fundamental problem remains. This paper presents Kairos, a novel data center scheduler that assumes no prior information on task runtimes. Kairos introduces a distributed approximation of the Least Attained Service (LAS) scheduling policy. Kairos consists of a centralized scheduler and per-node schedulers. The per-node schedulers implement LAS for tasks on their node, using preemption as necessary to avoid head-of-line blocking. The centralized scheduler distributes tasks among nodes in a manner that balances the load and imposes on each node a workload in which LAS provides favorable performance. We have implemented Kairos in YARN. We compare its performance against the YARN FIFO scheduler and Big-C, an open-source state-of-the-art YARN-based scheduler that also uses preemption. Compared to YARN FIFO, Kairos reduces the median job completion time by 73% and the 99th percentile by 30%. Compared to Big-C, the improvements are 37% for the median and 57% for the 99th percentile. We evaluate Kairos at scale by implementing it in the Eagle simulator and comparing its performance against Eagle. Kairos improves the 99th percentile of short job completion times by up to 55% for the Google trace and 85% for the Yahoo trace

Cryotomography of budding influenza a virus reveals filaments with diverse morphologies that mostly do not bear a genome at their distal end

Influenza viruses exhibit striking variations in particle morphology between strains. Clinical isolates of influenza A virus have been shown to produce long filamentous particles while laboratory-adapted strains are predominantly spherical. However, the role of the filamentous phenotype in the influenza virus infectious cycle remains undetermined. We used cryo-electron tomography to conduct the first three-dimensional study of filamentous virus ultrastructure in particles budding from infected cells. Filaments were often longer than 10 microns and sometimes had bulbous heads at their leading ends, some of which contained tubules we attribute to M1 while none had recognisable ribonucleoprotein (RNP) and hence genome segments. Long filaments that did not have bulbs were infrequently seen to bear an ordered complement of RNPs at their distal ends. Imaging of purified virus also revealed diverse filament morphologies; short rods (bacilliform virions) and longer filaments. Bacilliform virions contained an ordered complement of RNPs while longer filamentous particles were narrower and mostly appeared to lack this feature, but often contained fibrillar material along their entire length. The important ultrastructural differences between these diverse classes of particles raise the possibility of distinct morphogenetic pathways and functions during the infectious process

Direct Evidence for Dominant Bond-directional Interactions in a Honeycomb Lattice Iridate Na2IrO3

Heisenberg interactions are ubiquitous in magnetic materials and have been prevailing in modeling and designing quantum magnets. Bond-directional interactions offer a novel alternative to Heisenberg exchange and provide the building blocks of the Kitaev model, which has a quantum spin liquid (QSL) as its exact ground state. Honeycomb iridates, A2IrO3 (A=Na,Li), offer potential realizations of the Kitaev model, and their reported magnetic behaviors may be interpreted within the Kitaev framework. However, the extent of their relevance to the Kitaev model remains unclear, as evidence for bond-directional interactions remains indirect or conjectural. Here, we present direct evidence for dominant bond-directional interactions in antiferromagnetic Na2IrO3 and show that they lead to strong magnetic frustration. Diffuse magnetic x-ray scattering reveals broken spin-rotational symmetry even above Neel temperature, with the three spin components exhibiting nano-scale correlations along distinct crystallographic directions. This spin-space and real-space entanglement directly manifests the bond-directional interactions, provides the missing link to Kitaev physics in honeycomb iridates, and establishes a new design strategy toward frustrated magnetism.Comment: Nature Physics, accepted (2015

A Resonant X-ray Scattering Study of Octahedral Tilt Ordering in LaMnO3_3 and Pr1−x_{1-x}Cax_xMnO3_3

We report an x-ray scattering study of octahedral tilt ordering in the manganite series Pr$_{1-x}$Ca$_x$MnO$_3$ with x=0.4 and 0.25 and in LaMnO$_3$. The sensitivity to tilt ordering is achieved by tuning the incident x-ray energy to the L$_I$, L$_{II}$ and L$_{III}$ absorption edges of Pr and La, respectively. The resulting energy-dependent profiles are characterized by a dipole-resonant peak and higher energy fine structure. The polarization dependence is predominantly $\sigma$-to-$\pi$ and the azimuthal dependence follows a sin-squared behavior. These results are similar to those obtained in recent x-ray scattering studies of orbital ordering carried out in these same materials at the Mn K edge. They lead to a description of the cross-section in terms of Templeton scattering in which the tilt ordering breaks the symmetry at the rare earth site. The most interesting result of the present work is our observation that octahedral tilt ordering persists above the orbital ordering transition temperatures in all three samples. Indeed, we identify separate structural transitions which may be associated with the onset of orbital and tilt ordering, respectively, and characterize the loss of tilt ordering versus temperature in LaMnO$_3$.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figure