Arithmetic Circuit Lower Bounds via MaxRank

We introduce the polynomial coefficient matrix and identify maximum rank of this matrix under variable substitution as a complexity measure for multivariate polynomials. We use our techniques to prove super-polynomial lower bounds against several classes of non-multilinear arithmetic circuits. In particular, we obtain the following results : As our main result, we prove that any homogeneous depth-3 circuit for computing the product of $d$ matrices of dimension $n \times n$ requires $\Omega(n^{d-1}/2^d)$ size. This improves the lower bounds by Nisan and Wigderson(1995) when $d=\omega(1)$. There is an explicit polynomial on $n$ variables and degree at most $\frac{n}{2}$ for which any depth-3 circuit $C$ of product dimension at most $\frac{n}{10}$ (dimension of the space of affine forms feeding into each product gate) requires size $2^{\Omega(n)}$. This generalizes the lower bounds against diagonal circuits proved by Saxena(2007). Diagonal circuits are of product dimension 1. We prove a $n^{\Omega(\log n)}$ lower bound on the size of product-sparse formulas. By definition, any multilinear formula is a product-sparse formula. Thus, our result extends the known super-polynomial lower bounds on the size of multilinear formulas by Raz(2006). We prove a $2^{\Omega(n)}$ lower bound on the size of partitioned arithmetic branching programs. This result extends the known exponential lower bound on the size of ordered arithmetic branching programs given by Jansen(2008).Comment: 22 page

The Lost Movements of Ernst Toch’s Gesprochene Musik

Gesprochene Musik, by Ernst Toch (1887–1964), is a forgotten milestone in the history of electronic music.1 A three–movement suite consisting of spoken music for choir, it is one of the few paradigmatic representatives of the genre of Gramophonmusik, which made use of prerecorded gramophone discs in a concert setting. The work was premiered in 1930 at a Berlin festival devoted to new music, in a concert featuring original works for gramophone playback by two rising stars of the German contemporary music scene, Toch and Paul Hindemith. The pieces were performed only once, yet through the intervention of a young John Cage, the score of the third movement of Gesprochene Musik, the “Geographical Fugue,” appeared in Henry Cowell’s journal, New Music, five years later. Although Cage published the piece in the context of a collection of music written expressly for gramophone, his version led the “Geographical Fugue” to receive a new lease of life as a purely acoustic choral showpiece performed live, which would, ironically, become Toch’s most famous work

Management and Service-aware Networking Architectures (MANA) for Future Internet Position Paper: System Functions, Capabilities and Requirements

Future Internet (FI) research and development threads have recently been gaining momentum all over the world and as such the international race to create a new generation Internet is in full swing: GENI, Asia Future Internet, Future Internet Forum Korea, European Union Future Internet Assembly (FIA). This is a position paper identifying the research orientation with a time horizon of 10 years, together with the key challenges for the capabilities in the Management and Service-aware Networking Architectures (MANA) part of the Future Internet (FI) allowing for parallel and federated Internet(s)

Long-range entanglement generation via frequent measurements

A method is introduced whereby two non-interacting quantum subsystems, that each interact with a third subsystem, are entangled via repeated projective measurements of the state of the third subsystem. A variety of physical examples are presented. The method can be used to establish long range entanglement between distant parties in one parallel measurement step, thus obviating the need for entanglement swapping.Comment: 7 pages, incl. 2 figures. v2: added a few small clarifications and a referenc

Oxytocin impedes the effect of the word blindness post-hypnotic suggestion on Stroop task performance.

The ability to enhance sensitivity to relevant (post)hypnotic suggestions has implications for creating clinically informed analogues of psychological and neuropsychological conditions and for the use of hypnotic interventions in psychological and medical conditions. The aim of this study was to test the effect of oxytocin inhalation on a post-hypnotic suggestion that previously has been shown to improve the selectivity of attention in the Stroop task. In a double-blind placebo-controlled between-subjects study, medium hypnotizable individuals performed the Stroop task under normal conditions and when they had been given a post-hypnotic suggestion that they would perceive words as meaningless symbols. In line with previous research, Stroop interference was substantially reduced by the suggestion in the placebo condition. However, contrary to expectations, oxytocin impeded the effect of the word blindness suggestion on performance. The results are explained in terms of the requirement for the re-implementation of the word blindness suggestion on a trial-by-trial basis and the need to sustain activation of the suggestion between trials. The findings contrast with a recent study showing a beneficial effect of oxytocin on sensitivity to (post)hypnotic suggestions but are consistent with findings showing a detrimental effect of oxytocin on memory processes

Ask the Pendulum: Personality Predictors of Ideomotor Performance

For centuries, people have asked questions to hand-held pendulums and interpreted their movements as responses from the divine. These movements occur due to the ideomotor effect, wherein priming or thinking of a motion causes muscle movements that end up swinging the pendulum. By associating particular swinging movements with “yes” and “no” responses, we investigated whether pendulums can aid decision-making and which personality traits correlate with this performance. Participants (N=80) completed a visual detection task in which they searched for a target letter among rapidly presented characters. In the verbal condition, participants stated whether they saw the target in each trial. In the pendulum condition, participants instead mentally “asked” a hand-held pendulum whether the target was present; particular motions signified “yes” and “no”. We measured the accuracy of their responses as well as their sensitivity and bias using signal detection theory. We also assessed four personality measures: locus of control (feelings of control over one’s life), transliminality (sensitivity to subtle stimuli), need for cognition (preference for analytical thinking), and faith in intuition (preference for intuitive thinking). Overall, locus of control predicted verbal performance and transliminality predicted pendulum performance. Accuracy was low in both conditions (verbal: 57%, pendulum: 53%), but bias was higher in the verbal condition (d=1.10). We confirmed this bias difference in a second study (d=0.47, N=40). Our results suggest that people have different decision strategies when using a pendulum compared to conscious guessing. These findings may help explain why some people can answer questions more accurately with pendulums and Ouija boards. More broadly, identifying the differences between ideomotor and verbal responses could lead to practical ways to improve decision-making

Near-threshold high-order harmonic spectroscopy with aligned molecules

We study high-order harmonic generation in aligned molecules close to the ionization threshold. Two distinct contributions to the harmonic signal are observed, which show very different responses to molecular alignment and ellipticity of the driving field. We perform a classical electron trajectory analysis, taking into account the significant influence of the Coulomb potential on the strong-field-driven electron dynamics. The two contributions are related to primary ionization and excitation processes, offering a deeper understanding of the origin of high harmonics near the ionization threshold. This work shows that high harmonic spectroscopy can be extended to the near-threshold spectral range, which is in general spectroscopically rich.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Asthma as a Model for Placebo Effects in Modern Medicine

Many a clinical intervention thrives on placebos. Lack of consensus — both definitional and methodological — however, contributes to general confusion and specious conclusions regarding the legitimacy and relevance of placebos in modern medicine. The apparent divergence between objective and subjective treatment outcomes, moreover, renders placebos clinically meaningless. Asthma provides a clinical model for studying placebos because it highlights how psychology works in concert with pharmacology. Here we examine placebos as valuable adjuncts to, rather than replacements for, pharmacological treatments