Factorization in the Cloud: Integer Factorization Using F# and Windows Azure

Implementations are presented of two common algorithms for integer factorization, Pollard’s “p – 1” method and the SQUFOF method. The algorithms are implemented in the F# language, a functional programming language developed by Microsoft and officially released for the first time in 2010. The algorithms are thoroughly tested on a set of large integers (up to 64 bits in size), running both on a physical machine and a Windows Azure machine instance. Analysis of the relative performance between the two environments indicates comparable performance when taking into account the difference in computing power. Further analysis reveals that the relative performance of the Azure implementation tends to improve as the magnitudes of the integers increase, indicating that such an approach may be suitable for larger, more complex factorization tasks. Finally, several questions are presented for future research, including the performance of F# and related languages for more efficient, parallelizable algorithms, and the relative cost and performance of factorization algorithms in various environments, including physical hardware and commercial cloud computing offerings from the various vendors in the industry

Assessing Topside Thermal Solutions for Hot Spot Management of Micro-Scale Electronics

\u27Thermal limitations are an increasing issue in micro-electronic performance and reliability. This study looks to address a subcategory of the issue, termed hot spots , which stems from large power densities contained within increasingly smaller electronic components. Topside chip integrated thermal solutions are proposed as an approach for thermal management of these hot spots, where carbon materials are expected to perform exceptionally well. These proposals are assessed via finite element analysis simulations, which are partially verified through electrical thermometry and infrared thermography. The simulations investigate two scenarios: (1) where a single body of material is placed atop the device to spread heat away from the electronic component, effectively cooling it. (2) where said heat-spreader is also in contact with the device package (i.e., thermal ground). The simulations indicate that while scenario 2 is optimal, a thick heat-spreader is of greatest consequence. A second aspect of the thesis looks into volumetric averaging in infrared thermography measurements. The approach simulates the physics of the temperature mapping technique in order to highlight the source and severity of the volumetric average based on stack thermal emission and optical analysis. These simulations provide a means of removing the measurement averages via a bottom up approach of comparing the inputted temperature profile to the simulated temperature value. We perform these simulations on FEA model inputs, material stack dimensions, and optical properties, to produce a series of temperatures which show good agreement with the infrared thermography measurement.\u2

America\u27s First Great Moderation

This paper identifies America\u27s first Great Moderation, a period from 1841-1856 of unbroken economic expansion and low volatility comparable to the Great Moderation of the 1980s-2000s. This moderation occurred despite a lack of central banks, low governmental spending, and barriers to interstate commerce during the antebellum period. I demonstrate this moderation in industrial production and stock market indexes and compare the first Great Moderation with the second in these economic factors. These results also call into question the conventional wisdom of the National Bureau of Economic Research business cycle chronology that the antebellum period was volatile and fraught with recessions. I then identify several possible causes of this stable growth in the effects of cotton prices, technological revolutions such as railroads, and wage and interest rate integration during the period, among other factors. Understanding these factors helps develop our understanding of the American antebellum economy and the causes of economic growth and stability, especially during these Great Moderations

Stochastic search for approximate compilation of unitaries

Compilation of unitaries into a sequence of physical quantum gates is a critical prerequisite for execution of quantum algorithms. This work introduces STOQ, a stochastic search protocol for approximate unitary compilation into a sequence of gates from an arbitrary gate alphabet. We demonstrate STOQ by comparing its performance to existing product-formula compilation techniques for time-evolution unitaries on system sizes up to eight qubits. The compilations generated by STOQ are less accurate than those from product-formula techniques, but they are similar in runtime and traverse significantly different paths in state space. We also use STOQ to generate compilations of randomly-generated unitaries, and we observe its ability to generate approximately-equivalent compilations of unitaries corresponding to shallow random circuits. Finally, we discuss the applicability of STOQ to tasks such as characterization of near-term quantum devices

The Federal Judicial Vacancy Crisis: Origins and Solutions

This paper examines the causes of the rise in vacancies on the federal courts in recent decades. Under President Barack Obama, the number of vacancies on the federal courts has sharply jumped. This is due to firm opposition by Senate Republicans, who have used the various procedural tools of that body to make it difficult for nominees to get confirmation. This antagonism is the result of a shift in how the parties view the courts and their role in the American political process. The Warren Court\u27s expansion of substantive due process rights increased the Court\u27s powers to the chagrin of conservatives. Republicans responded by blocking the nomination of Abe Fortas for Chief Justice; Democrats retaliated by defeating several of Richard Nixon\u27s nominees to replace Fortas. These battles, and the prominence of legal issues such as abortion, would culminate in the vicious fight over Ronald Reagan\u27s nomination of Robert Bork to the Court, which influenced increasingly bitter fights in recent decades. I also propose a possible solution to the obstruction problem, inspired by procedures used in jury selection

Characteristics and Enablers of Transparency in Product Development Organizations

Risks in product development lead to schedule and cost overruns and poor product quality. While many risk management frameworks have been published and research on specific practices has been conducted, little is understood of key characteristics of successful risk management in product development and how they manifest in real development projects. This research consists of two phases. The first phase is a survey on 171 best practices in risk management. Analysis of over 200 responses from industry practitioners identified transparency as a key characteristic of successful risk management in product development. Due to the limited exploration of the concept of transparency in the literature, the second phase of this work consisted of a qualitative investigation of transparency through interviews with 15 industry practitioners. Analysis of the interview results suggests a hierarchical structure which decomposes transparency into several characteristics and identifies enablers for each of these characteristics. We propose that transparency can be a valuable lever for product developers and managers. Future work is needed to validate the generalizability of the observations provided