A Survey of Information Entropy Metrics for Complex Networks

Information entropy metrics have been applied to a wide range of problems that were abstracted as complex networks. This growing body of research is scattered in multiple disciplines, which makes it difficult to identify available metrics and understand the context in which they are applicable. In this work, a narrative literature review of information entropy metrics for complex networks is conducted following the PRISMA guidelines. Existing entropy metrics are classified according to three different criteria: whether the metric provides a property of the graph or a graph component (such as the nodes), the chosen probability distribution, and the types of complex networks to which the metrics are applicable. Consequently, this work identifies the areas in need for further development aiming to guide future research efforts.     

An inequality connecting entropy distance,Fisher Information and large deviations

In this paper we introduce a new generalisation of the relative Fisher Information for Markov jump processes on a finite or countable state space, and prove an inequality which connects this object with the relative entropy and a large deviation rate functional. In addition to possessing various favourable properties, we show that this generalised Fisher Information converges to the classical Fisher Information in an appropriate limit. We then use this generalised Fisher Information and the aforementioned inequality to qualitatively study coarse-graining problems for jump processes on discrete spaces.     

A Review of Fractional Order Entropies

Fractional calculus (FC) is the area of calculus that generalizes the operations of differentiation and integration. FC operators are non-local and capture the history of dynamical effects present in many natural and artificial phenomena. Entropy is a measure of uncertainty, diversity and randomness often adopted for characterizing complex dynamical systems. Stemming from the synergies between the two areas, this paper reviews the concept of entropy in the framework of FC. Several new entropy definitions have been proposed in recent decades, expanding the scope of applicability of this seminal tool. However, FC is not yet well disseminated in the community of entropy. Therefore, new definitions based on FC can generalize both concepts in the theoretical and applied points of view. The time to come will prove to what extend the new formulations will be useful.     

Generating Excess Protons in Microsolvated Acid Clusters under Ambient Conditions: An Issue of Configurational Entropy versus Internal Energy

Acid dissociation, and thus liberation of excess protons in small water droplets, impacts on diverse fields such as interstellar, atmospheric or environmental chemistry. At cryogenic temperatures below 1 K, it is now well established that as few as four water molecules suffice to dissociate the generic strong acid HCl, yet temperature-driven recombination sets in simply upon heating that cluster. Here, the fundamental question is posed of how many more water molecules are required to stabilize a hydrated excess proton at room temperature. Ab initio path integral simulations disclose that not five, but six water molecules are needed at 300 K to allow for HCl dissociation independently from nuclear quantum effects. In order to provide the molecular underpinnings of these observations, the classical and quantum free energy profiles were decomposed along the dissociation coordinate in terms of the corresponding internal energy and entropy profiles. What decides in the end about acid dissociation, and thus ion pair formation, in a specific microsolvated water cluster at room temperature is found to be a fierce competition between classical configurational entropy and internal energy, where the former stabilizes the undissociated state whereas the latter favors dissociation. It is expected that these are generic findings with broad implications on acid–base chemistry depending on temperature in small water assemblies.     

Small activation entropy bestows high-stability of nanoconfined D-mannitol

It has been a long-standing puzzling problem that some glasses exhibit higher glass transition temperatures(denoting high stability) but lower activation energy for relaxations(denoting low stability). In this paper, the relaxation kinetics of the nanoconfined D-mannitol(DM) glass was studied systematically using a high-precision and high-rate nanocalorimeter.The nanoconfined DM exhibits enhanced thermal stability compared to the free DM. For example, the critical cooling rate for glass formation decreases from 200 K/s to below 1 K/s; the Tg increases by about 20 K–50 K. The relaxation kinetics is analyzed based on the absolute reaction rate theory. It is found that, even though the activation energy E~*decreases,the activation entropy S~*decreases much more for the nanoconfined glass that yields a large activation free energy G~*and higher thermal stability. These results suggest that the activation entropy may provide new insights in understanding the abnormal kinetics of nanoconfined glassy systems.     

三元层状MAX相固溶体研究进展

MAX相是一类具有层状结构的三元碳化物或(和)氮化物,M是过渡金属元素,A主要是ⅢA~ⅤA族元素,X是C或N元素。这类化合物兼具陶瓷材料和金属材料的特点,具有优异的导电、导热、耐腐蚀以及抗氧化等性能,在诸多领域具有潜在应用价值。近年来,新元素、新结构和固溶体MAX相的不断出现,进一步扩展了MAX相家族。固溶体MAX相是将合适的元素固溶到已知MAX相中而得到的新MAX相。本文分四类总结了127种MAX相固溶体,对其结构改变和性能调控进行了概括,并指出目前研究存在的理论问题和亟须解决的关键技术,最后对MAX相固溶体的发展进行了预测和展望。     

On a class of Riemann surfaces

It is considered the class of Riemann surfaces with dimT1 = 0, where T1 is a subclass of exact harmonic forms which is one of the factors in the orthogonal decomposition of the spaceΩH of harmonic forms of the surface, namely The surfaces in the class OHD and the class of planar surfaces satisfy dimT1 = 0. A.Pfluger posed the question whether there might exist other surfaces outside those two classes. Here it is shown that in the case of finite genus g, we should look for a surface S with dimT1 = 0 among the surfaces of the form Sg\K , where Sg is a closed surface of genus g and K a compact set of positive harmonic measure with perfect components and very irregular boundary.