Anomaly Problem in the N=1 Supersymmetric Electrodynamics as a Consequence of the Inconsistency of the Dimensional Reduction Method

We compare the calculation of the two-loop -function in the N=1 supersymmetric electrodynamics regularized via higher derivatives and via dimensional reduction. We show that the renormalized effective action is the same for both regularizations. But in the method of higher derivatives, unlike in the dimensional reduction, the -function defined as the derivative of the renormalized coupling constant with respect to log turns out to be purely one-loop. The anomaly problem therefore does not occur in this regularization, because in the method of higher derivatives, the diagrams with counterterm insertions make a nonzero contribution, which is evaluated exactly in all orders of the perturbation theory. When dimensional reduction is used, this contribution is zero. We argue that this result is a consequence of the mathematical inconsistency of the dimensional reduction method and that just this inconsistency leads to the anomaly problem.     

Some Solutions for a Class of Singular Equations

In this paper we obtain all solutions which depend only on r for a class of partial differential equations of higher order with singular coefficients.     

Finite Lifetime Eigenfunctions of Coupled Systems of Harmonic Oscillators

We consider a vector-valued Hermite-type basis for which the eigenvalue problem associated to the operator H _A,B :=B(; _x ² )+Ax ² acting on becomes a three-terms recurrence. Here A and B are 2 × 2 constant positive definite matrices. Our main result provides an explicit characterization of the eigenvectors of H _A,B that lie in the span of the first four elements of this basis when AB BA.This revised version was published online in March 2005 with corrections to the cover date.     

Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in high-throughput screening of homogeneous catalysts

The frontispiece shows an illustration by John Tenniel and an excerpt from the 1865 edition of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland". Because everything in Wonderland runs counter to logic, the Queen of Hearts declares in Alice's trial "Sentence first-verdict afterwards". High-throughput screening of catalysts, as it is conventionally practiced, does "Synthesis first-screening afterwards" which, as is argued in this review, also backwards. Given the particular constraints present in organometallic complexes, it is more efficient to develop a selective synthesis only when it has already been determined that a structure is likely to be better. The consequence is that screening methods must be able to handle ill-defined mixtures. Electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry is presented as a technical solution to this problem.     

The Novikov Conjecture for Low Degree Cohomology Classes

We outline a twisted analogue of the Mishchenko–Kasparov approach to prove the Novikov conjecture on the homotopy invariance of the higher signatures. Using our approach, we give a new and simple proof of the homotopy invariance of the higher signatures associated to all cohomology classes of the classifying space that belong to the subring of the cohomology ring of the classifying space that is generated by cohomology classes of degree less than or equal to 2, a result that was first established by Connes and Gromov and Moscovici using other methods. A key new ingredient is the construction of a tautological C* _r (, )-bundle and connection, which can be used to construct a C* _r (, )-index that lies in the Grothendieck group of C* _r (, ), where is a multiplier on the discrete group corresponding to a degree 2 cohomology class. We also utilise a main result of Hilsum and Skandalis to establish our theorem.     

Queueing Dynamics and Maximal Throughput Scheduling in Switched Processing Systems

We study a processing system comprised of parallel queues, whose individual service rates are specified by a global service mode (configuration). The issue is how to switch the system between various possible service modes, so as to maximize its throughput and maintain stability under the most workload-intensive input traffic traces (arrival processes). Stability preserves the job inflow–outflow balance at each queue on the traffic traces. Two key families of service policies are shown to maximize throughput, under the mild condition that traffic traces have long-term average workload rates. In the first family of cone policies, the service mode is chosen based on the system backlog state belonging to a corresponding cone. Two distinct policy classes of that nature are investigated, MaxProduct and FastEmpty. In the second family of batch policies (BatchAdapt), jobs are collectively scheduled over adaptively chosen horizons, according to an asymptotically optimal, robust schedule. The issues of nonpreemptive job processing and non-negligible switching times between service modes are addressed. The analysis is extended to cover feed-forward networks of such processing systems/nodes. The approach taken unifies and generalizes prior studies, by developing a general trace-based modeling framework (sample-path approach) for addressing the queueing stability problem. It treats the queueing structure as a deterministic dynamical system and analyzes directly its evolution trajectories. It does not require any probabilistic superstructure, which is typically used in previous approaches. Probability can be superposed later to address finer performance questions (e.g., delay). The throughput maximization problem is seen to be primarily of structural nature. The developed methodology appears to have broader applicability to other queueing systems.     

Simulation optimization of buffer allocations in production lines with unreliable machines

We use a recent simulationbased optimization method, sample path optimization, to find optimal buffer allocations in tandem production lines where machines are subject to random breakdowns and repairs, and the product is fluidtype. We explore some of the functional properties of throughput of such systems and exploit these properties to prove the almost sure convergence of our optimization technique, under a regularity condition on the steady state. Utilizing a generalized semiMarkov process (GSMP) representation of the system, we derive recursive expressions to compute onesided directional derivatives of throughput, from a single simulation run. Finally, we give computational results for lines with up to 50 machines. We also compare results for smaller lines with the results from a more conventional method, stochastic approximation, whenever applicable. In these numerical studies, our method performed quite well on problems that are considered difficult by current computational standards.     

Inverting the Motivic Bott Element

We prove a version for motivic cohomology of Thomason's theorem on Bott-periodic K-theory, namely, that for a field k containing the nth roots of unity, the mod n motivic cohomology of a smooth k-scheme agrees with mod n étale cohomology, after inverting the element in H⁰(k,(1)) corresponding to a primitive nth root of unity.