2,809 research outputs found
A Walsh-Fourier approach to the circulant Hadamard conjecture
We describe an approach to the circulant Hadamard conjecture based on
Walsh-Fourier analysis. We show that the existence of a circulant Hadamard
matrix of order is equivalent to the existence of a non-trivial solution of
a certain homogenous linear system of equations. Based on this system, a
possible way of proving the conjecture is proposed.Comment: 8 page
Attacks by “Anonymous” WikiLeaks Proponents not Anonymous
On November 28, 2010, the world started watching the whistle blower website WikiLeaks to begin publishing part of the 250,000 US Embassy Diplomatic cables. These confidential cables provide an insight on U.S. international affairs from 274 different embassies, covering topics such as analysis of host countries and leaders and even requests for spying out United Nations leaders.\ud
The release of these cables has caused reactions not only in the real world, but also on the Internet. In fact, a cyberwar started just before the initial release. Wikileaks has reported that their servers were experiencing distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS). A DDoS attack consists of many computers trying to overload a server by firing a high number of requests, leading ultimately to service disruption. In this case, the goal was to avoid the release of the embassy cables.\ud
After the initial cable release, several companies started severed ties with WikiLeaks. One of the first was Amazon.com, that removed the WikiLeaks web- site from their servers. Next, EveryDNS, a company in which the domain wikileaks.org was registered, dropped the domain entries from its servers. On December 4th, PayPal cancelled the account that WikiLeaks was using to receive on-line donations. On the 6th, Swiss bank PostFinance froze the WikiLeaks assets and Mastercard stopped receiving payments to the WikiLeaks account. Visa followed Mastercard on December 7th.\ud
These reactions caused a group of Internet activists (or “hacktivists”) named Anonymous to start a retaliation against PostFinance, PayPay, MasterCard, Visa, Moneybrookers.com and Amazon.com, named “Operation Payback”. The retaliation was performed as DDoS attacks to the websites of those companies, disrupting their activities (except for the case of Amazon.com) for different periods of time.\ud
The Anonymous group consists of volunteers that use a stress testing tool to perform the attacks. This tool, named LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon), can be found both as a desktop application and as a Web page.\ud
Even though the group behind the attacks claims to be anonymous, the tools they provide do not offer any security services, such as anonymization. As a consequence, a hacktivist that volunteers to take part in such attacks, can be traced back easily. This is the case for both current versions of the LOIC tool. Therefore, the goal of this report is to present an analysis of privacy issues in the context of these attacks, and raise awareness on the risks of taking part in them
Photon Splitting in a Strong Magnetic Field: Recalculation and Comparison With Previous Calculations
We recalculate the amplitude for photon splitting in a strong magnetic field
below the pair production threshold, using the worldline path integral variant
of the Bern--Kosower formalism. Numerical comparison (using programs that we
have made available for public access on the Internet) shows that the results
of the recalculation are identical to the earlier calculations of Adler and
later of Stoneham, and to the recent recalculation by Baier, Milstein, and
Shaisultanov.Comment: Revtex, 9 pages, no figure
Coloring translates and homothets of a convex body
We obtain improved upper bounds and new lower bounds on the chromatic number
as a linear function of the clique number, for the intersection graphs (and
their complements) of finite families of translates and homothets of a convex
body in \RR^n.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure
An easy way to solve two-loop vertex integrals
Negative dimensional integration is a step further dimensional regularization
ideas. In this approach, based on the principle of analytic continuation,
Feynman integrals are polynomial ones and for this reason very simple to
handle, contrary to the usual parametric ones. The result of the integral
worked out in must be analytically continued again --- of course --- to
real physical world, , and this step presents no difficulties. We consider
four two-loop three-point vertex diagrams with arbitrary exponents of
propagators and dimension. These original results give the correct well-known
particular cases where the exponents of propagators are equal to unity.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX, 4 figures, misprints correcte
Neutron Scattering Study of Crystal Field Energy Levels and Field Dependence of the Magnetic Order in Superconducting HoNi2B2C
Elastic and inelastic neutron scattering measurements have been carried out
to investigate the magnetic properties of superconducting (Tc~8K) HoNi2B2C. The
inelastic measurements reveal that the lowest two crystal field transitions out
of the ground state occurat 11.28(3) and 16.00(2) meV, while the transition of
4.70(9) meV between these two levels is observed at elevated temperatures. The
temperature dependence of the intensities of these transitions is consistent
with both the ground state and these higher levels being magnetic doublets. The
system becomes magnetically long range ordered below 8K, and since this
ordering energy kTN ~ 0.69meV << 11.28meV the magnetic properties in the
ordered phase are dominated by the ground-state spin dynamics only. The low
temperature structure, which coexists with superconductivity, consists of
ferromagnetic sheets of Ho{3+ moments in the a-b plane, with the sheets coupled
antiferromagnetically along the c-axis. The magnetic state that initially forms
on cooling, however, is dominated by an incommensurate spiral antiferromagnetic
state along the c-axis, with wave vector qc ~0.054 A-1, in which these
ferromagnetic sheets are canted from their low temperature antiparallel
configuration by ~17 deg. The intensity for this spiral state reaches a maximum
near the reentrant superconducting transition at ~5K; the spiral state then
collapses at lower temperature in favor of the commensurate antiferromagnetic
state. We have investigated the field dependence of the magnetic order at and
above this reentrant superconducting transition. Initially the field rotates
the powder particles to align the a-b plane along the field direction,
demonstrating that the moments strongly prefer to lie within this plane due to
the crystal field anisotropy. Upon subsequently increasing the field atComment: RevTex, 7 pages, 11 figures (available upon request); Physica
The cultivation of adaptability in Japan
This paper explores the adaptability of buildings in Japan from the perspective of three distinct practice typologies: large general contractors, large architectural design firms, and small design ateliers. The paper illustrates the cultivation of adaptability in Japan revealing a maturing of concepts into current innovations, trends, priorities, and obstacles in relation to adaptability in design. The paper contextualizes the situation by reviewing the evolution of residential development in support of building adaptability, and the ways in which these policies and concepts have shaped practice and transcended residential design. This evolution is then explored through non-residential case studies undertaken by the three practice types, and supported through a review of critical themes emerging from the interviews. The importance of particular physical characteristics are examined including storey height, location of services, planning modules and structural spacing/spans. The interviews expose the critical relationship between adaptability and different social variables - the state of the market, the role of planning regulations and other legal frameworks; as well as, the misconceptions and variations in the perceptions on the role and meaning adaptability has in practice. The paper is concluded by revealing the lessons learnt, including the unfolding of dependencies outside the ‘black box’ of adaptability (e.g. practice culture, material and, stakeholder mindsets) and the requirement of effective communication of concepts to allow an informed conversation between professionals and with clients and users. Like many other philosophical design concepts in complex processes, adaptability benefits from a mutual understanding, good relationships, communication, integration, and shared goals amongst team members
Defect-induced condensation and central peak at elastic phase transitions
Static and dynamical properties of elastic phase transitions under the
influence of short--range defects, which locally increase the transition
temperature, are investigated. Our approach is based on a Ginzburg--Landau
theory for three--dimensional crystals with one--, two-- or three--dimensional
soft sectors, respectively. Systems with a finite concentration of
quenched, randomly placed defects display a phase transition at a temperature
, which can be considerably above the transition temperature
of the pure system. The phonon correlation function is calculated in
single--site approximation. For a dynamical central peak
appears; upon approaching , its height diverges and its width
vanishes. Using an appropriate self--consistent method, we calculate the
spatially inhomogeneous order parameter, the free energy and the specific heat,
as well as the dynamical correlation function in the ordered phase. The
dynamical central peak disappears again as the temperatur is lowered below
. The inhomogeneous order parameter causes a static central
peak in the scattering cross section, with a finite width depending on the
orientation of the external wave vector relative to the soft sector.
The jump in the specific heat at the transition temperatur of the pure system
is smeared out by the influence of the defects, leading to a distinct maximum
instead. In addition, there emerges a tiny discontinuity of the specific heat
at . We also discuss the range of validity of the mean--field
approach, and provide a more realistic estimate for the transition temperature.Comment: 11 pages, 11 ps-figures, to appear in PR
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