Stanford Matrix Considered Harmful

This note argues about the validity of web-graph data used in the literature

Broadword Implementation of Parenthesis Queries

We continue the line of research started in "Broadword Implementation of Rank/Select Queries" proposing broadword (a.k.a. SWAR, "SIMD Within A Register") algorithms for finding matching closed parentheses and the k-th far closed parenthesis. Our algorithms work in time O(log w) on a word of w bits, and contain no branch and no test instruction. On 64-bit (and wider) architectures, these algorithms make it possible to avoid costly tabulations, while providing a very significant speedup with respect to for-loop implementations

The Virasoro algebra and sectors with infinite statistical dimension

We show that the sectors with lowest weight $h\geq 0$, $h\neq j^2$, j\in {1/2}\ZZ of the local net of von Neumann algebras on the circle generated by the Virasoro algebra with central charge c=1 have infinite statistical dimension.Comment: 14 pages, minor changes, one reference adde

Fibonacci Binning

This note argues that when dot-plotting distributions typically found in papers about web and social networks (degree distributions, component-size distributions, etc.), and more generally distributions that have high variability in their tail, an exponentially binned version should always be plotted, too, and suggests Fibonacci binning as a visually appealing, easy-to-use and practical choice

Supremum-Norm Convergence for Step-Asynchronous Successive Overrelaxation on M-matrices

Step-asynchronous successive overrelaxation updates the values contained in a single vector using the usual Gau\ss-Seidel-like weighted rule, but arbitrarily mixing old and new values, the only constraint being temporal coherence: you cannot use a value before it has been computed. We show that given a nonnegative real matrix $A$, a $\sigma\geq\rho(A)$ and a vector $\boldsymbol w>0$ such that $A\boldsymbol w\leq\sigma\boldsymbol w$, every iteration of step-asynchronous successive overrelaxation for the problem $(sI- A)\boldsymbol x=\boldsymbol b$, with $s >\sigma$, reduces geometrically the $\boldsymbol w$-norm of the current error by a factor that we can compute explicitly. Then, we show that given a $\sigma>\rho(A)$ it is in principle always possible to compute such a $\boldsymbol w$. This property makes it possible to estimate the supremum norm of the absolute error at each iteration without any additional hypothesis on $A$, even when $A$ is so large that computing the product $A\boldsymbol x$ is feasible, but estimating the supremum norm of $(sI-A)^{-1}$ is not

An experimental exploration of Marsaglia's xorshift generators, scrambled

Marsaglia proposed recently xorshift generators as a class of very fast, good-quality pseudorandom number generators. Subsequent analysis by Panneton and L'Ecuyer has lowered the expectations raised by Marsaglia's paper, showing several weaknesses of such generators, verified experimentally using the TestU01 suite. Nonetheless, many of the weaknesses of xorshift generators fade away if their result is scrambled by a non-linear operation (as originally suggested by Marsaglia). In this paper we explore the space of possible generators obtained by multiplying the result of a xorshift generator by a suitable constant. We sample generators at 100 equispaced points of their state space and obtain detailed statistics that lead us to choices of parameters that improve on the current ones. We then explore for the first time the space of high-dimensional xorshift generators, following another suggestion in Marsaglia's paper, finding choices of parameters providing periods of length $2^{1024} - 1$ and $2^{4096} - 1$. The resulting generators are of extremely high quality, faster than current similar alternatives, and generate long-period sequences passing strong statistical tests using only eight logical operations, one addition and one multiplication by a constant

On the representation theory of Virasoro Nets

We discuss various aspects of the representation theory of the local nets of von Neumann algebras on the circle associated with positive energy representations of the Virasoro algebra (Virasoro nets). In particular we classify the local extensions of the $c=1$ Virasoro net for which the restriction of the vacuum representation to the Virasoro subnet is a direct sum of irreducible subrepresentations with finite statistical dimension (local extensions of compact type). Moreover we prove that if the central charge $c$ is in a certain subset of $(1,\infty)$, including $[2,\infty)$, and $h \geq (c-1)/24$, the irreducible representation with lowest weight $h$ of the corresponding Virasoro net has infinite statistical dimension. As a consequence we show that if the central charge $c$ is in the above set and satisfies $c\leq 25$ then the corresponding Virasoro net has no proper local extensions of compact type.Comment: 34 page