Counterexamples in measuring the distance between binary trees

Examples are given to show that the closest partition distance measure need not agree with the nearest neighbor interchange distance for unordered labeled binary trees. Proposed algorithms for computing the closest partition distance are shown to be of exponential complexity and hence may not be useful in approximating the nearest neighbor interchange distance.     

Peripatetic Highlights in Bern

This tour of significant scientific sites in Bern uses the local legacy of its most illustrious scientists, Albert Einstein (1879–1955) and Fritz Houtermans (1903–1966), as its guiding thread through the old town and the university district.Ann M.Hentschel is translator of the correspondence volumes of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein and is currently employed by the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Bern to write the guide for a city tour of Einsteins old haunts in Bern for the coming jubilee of special relativity in 2005. For the historical companion guidebook, see Hentschel and Grasshoff, Albert Einstein (ref. 4) and the website <.     

From 2-dimensional surfaces to cosmological solutions

We construct perfect fluid metrics with two symmetries by means of a recently developed geometrical method [1]. The Einstein equations are reduced to a single equation for a conformal factor. Under additional assumptions we obtain new cosmological solutions of Bianchi type II, VI₀ and VII₀. The solutions depend on an arbitrary function of time, which can be specified in order to satisfy an equation of state.     

On null isotropy in spacetimes

Null isotropy in a spacetime is defined. The relation of null isotropy to the constant curvature and infinitesimal spatial isotropy is investigated. The influence of null isotropy on conjugate points along null geodesics and curvature singularities is investigated.     

Optical metrics and birefringence of anisotropic media

The material tensor of linear response in electrodynamics is constructed out of products of two symmetric second rank tensor fields which in the approximation of geometrical optics and for uniaxial symmetry reduce to “optical” metrics, describing the phenomenon of birefringence. This representation is interpreted in the context of an underlying internal geometrical structure according to which the symmetric tensor fields are vectorial elements of an associated two-dimensional space.     

On Mobility and Einstein Relation for Tracers in Time-Mixing Random Environments

In this paper we rigorously establish the existence of the mobility coefficient for a tagged particle in a simple symmetric exclusion process with adsorption/desorption of particles, in a presence of an external force field interacting with the particle. The proof is obtained using a perturbative argument. In addition, we show that, for a constant external field, the mobility of a particle equals to the self-diffusivity coefficient, the so-called Einstein relation. The method can be applied to any system where the environment has a Markovian evolution with a fast convergence to equilibrium (spectral gap property). In this context we find a necessary relation between forward and backward velocity for the validity of the Einstein relation. This relation is always satisfied by reversible systems. We provide an example of a non-reversible system, where the Einstein relation is valid.This revised version was published online in March 2005 with corrections to the page numbers.     

Accelerated Levi-Civita-Bertotti-Robinson metric in D dimensions

A conformally flat accelerated charge metric is found in an arbitrary dimension D. It is a solution of the Einstein-Maxwell-null fluid equations with a cosmological constant in D ≥ 4 dimensions. When the acceleration is zero, our solution reduces to the Levi-Civita-Bertotti-Robinson metric. We show that the charge loses its energy, for all dimensions, due to the acceleration.