Phase separation in polydisperse rod–coil block copolymers

The stability limits of the homogeneous state of melts of rod–coil RC$RC$, R_C2$R{C}_2$, and CRC$CRC$ polydisperse block copolymers have been investigated in the framework of the weak segregation theory. It was assumed that the number of units in either the rod-like R$R$ or the flexible C$C$ block is a random variable distributed by the Schulz–Zimm distribution. Inspection of the spinodal curves shows that the copolymer melts with polydisperse rigid blocks are less stable with respect to formation of the nematic state than melts with the monodisperse ones. If flexible C$C$ blocks are polydisperse the homogeneous state of a rod–coil melt is less stable against microphase separation than the homogeneous state of monodisperse melt of the same architecture.     

Intertwining operators for Sklyanin algebra and elliptic hypergeometric series

Intertwining operators for infinite-dimensional representations of the Sklyanin algebra with spins ?$?$ and −?−1$-?-1$ are constructed using the technique of intertwining vectors for elliptic L$L$-operator. They are expressed in terms of elliptic hypergeometric series with operator argument. The intertwining operators obtained (W$W$-operators) serve as building blocks for the elliptic R$R$-matrix which intertwines tensor product of two L$L$-operators taken in infinite-dimensional representations of the Sklyanin algebra with arbitrary spin. The Yang–Baxter equation for this R$R$-matrix follows from simpler equations of the star–triangle type for the W$W$-operators. A natural graphic representation of the objects and equations involved in the construction is used.     

On interrelations of recurrences and connectivity trends between stock indices

Financial data has been extensively studied for correlations using Pearson’s cross-correlation coefficient ρ$\rho$ as the point of departure. We employ an estimator based on recurrence plots — the correlation of probability of recurrence (CPR$CPR$) — to analyze connections between nine stock indices spread worldwide. We suggest a slight modification of the CPR$CPR$ approach in order to get more robust results. We examine trends in CPR$CPR$ for an approximately 19-month window moved along the time series and compare them to trends in ρ$\rho$. Binning CPR$CPR$ into three levels of connectedness (strong, moderate, and weak), we extract the trends in number of connections in each bin over time. We also look at the behavior of CPR$CPR$ during the dot-com bubble by shifting the time series to align their peaks. CPR$CPR$ mainly uncovers that the markets move in and out of periods of strong connectivity erratically, instead of moving monotonically towards increasing global connectivity. This is in contrast to ρ$\rho$, which gives a picture of ever-increasing correlation. CPR$CPR$ also exhibits that time-shifted markets have high connectivity around the dot-com bubble of 2000. We use significance tests using twin surrogates to interpret all the measures estimated in the study.     

Third-harmonic generation in asymmetric coupled quantum wells

The third-harmonic generation (THG) in asymmetric coupled quantum wells (ACQWs) for different values of the well parameter Δ$\Delta$ and width of barrier (_WB)$\left(W_B\right)$ are theoretically studied. The analytical expression of the third-harmonic generation is derived by using the compact density-matrix approach and the iterative method. Finally, the numerical calculations are presented for typical GaAs/Al_xGa_1−xAs asymmetric coupled quantum wells. Results obtained show that the third-harmonic generation in the asymmetric coupled quantum wells can be importantly modified by the parameter Δ$\Delta$ and _WB$W_B$. Moreover, third-harmonic generation also depends on the relaxation rate of the asymmetric coupled quantum wells.     

Exact solution of the alternating XXZ spin chain with generic non-diagonal boundaries

The integrable XXZ alternating spin chain with generic non-diagonal boundary terms specified by the most general non-diagonal K$K$-matrices is studied via the off-diagonal Bethe Ansatz method. Based on the intrinsic properties of the fused R$R$-matrices and K$K$-matrices, we obtain certain closed operator identities and conditions, which allow us to construct an inhomogeneous T−Q$T-Q$ relation and the associated Bethe Ansatz equations accounting for the eigenvalues of the transfer matrix.     

Dworkin’s argument revisited: Point processes,dynamics, diffraction,and correlations

The setting is an ergodic dynamical system (X,μ)$(X,\mu )$ whose points are themselves uniformly discrete point sets Λ$\Lambda$ in some space R^d${\mathbb{R}}^d$ and whose group action is that of translation of these point sets by the vectors of R^d${\mathbb{R}}^d$. Steven Dworkin’s argument relates the diffraction of the typical point sets comprising X$X$ to the dynamical spectrum of X$X$. In this paper we look more deeply at this relationship, particularly in the context of point processes.     

On the nuclear modification factor at RHIC and LHC

We show that pQCD factorization incorporated with pre-hadronization energy-loss effect naturally leads to flatness of the nuclear modification factor RAA$R_{\mathit{AA}}$ for produced hadrons at high transverse momentum pT$p_T$. We consider two possible scenarios for the pre-hadronization: In scenario 1, the produced gluon propagates through dense QCD medium and loses energy. In scenario 2, all gluons first decay to quark–antiquark pairs and then each pair loses energy as propagating through the medium. We show that the estimates of the energy-loss in these two different models lead to very close values and is able to explain the suppression of high-pT$p_T$ hadrons in nucleus–nucleus collisions at RHIC. We show that the onset of the flatness of RAA$R_{\mathit{AA}}$ for the produced hadron in central collisions at midrapidity is about pT≈15$p_T\approx 15$ and 25 GeV at RHIC and the LHC energies, respectively. We show that the smallness (RAA<0.5$R_{\mathit{AA}}<0.5$ ) and the high-pT$p_T$ flatness of RAA$R_{\mathit{AA}}$ obtained from the kT$k_T$ factorization supplemented with the Balitsky–Kovchegov (BK) equation is rather generic and it does not strongly depend on the details of the BK solutions. We show that energy-loss effect reduces the nuclear modification factor obtained from the kT$k_T$ factorization about 30–50% at moderate pT$p_T$.     

Effects of uniform rotational flow on predator–prey system

Rotational flow is often observed in lotic ecosystems, such as streams and rivers. For example, when an obstacle interrupts water flowing in a stream, energy dissipation and momentum transfer can result in the formation of rotational flow, or a vortex. In this study, I examined how rotational flow affects a predator–prey system by constructing a spatially explicit lattice model consisting of predators, prey, and plants. A predation relationship existed between the species. The species densities in the model were given as S$S$ (for predator), P$P$ (for prey), and G$G$ (for plant). A predator (prey) had a probability of giving birth to an offspring when it ate prey (plant). When a predator or prey was first introduced, or born, its health state was assigned an initial value of 20 that subsequently decreased by one with every time step. The predator (prey) was removed from the system when the health state decreased to less than zero. The degree of flow rotation was characterized by the variable, R$R$. A higher R$R$ indicates a higher tendency that predators and prey move along circular paths. Plants were not affected by the flow because they were assumed to be attached to the streambed. Results showed that R$R$ positively affected both predator and prey survival, while its effect on plants was negligible. Flow rotation facilitated disturbances in individuals’ movements, which consequently strengthens the predator and prey relationship and prevents death from starvation. An increase in S$S$ accelerated the extinction of predators and prey.     

Weak mirror symmetry of complex symplectic Lie algebras

A complex symplectic structure on a Lie algebra h$\mathfrak{h}$ is an integrable complex structure J$J$ with a closed non-degenerate (2,0)$(2,0)$-form. It is determined by J$J$ and the real part Ω$\Omega$ of the (2,0)$(2,0)$-form. Suppose that h$\mathfrak{h}$ is a semi-direct product g?V$\mathfrak{g}?V$, and both g$\mathfrak{g}$ and V$V$ are Lagrangian with respect to Ω$\Omega$ and totally real with respect to J$J$. This note shows that g?V$\mathfrak{g}?V$ is its own weak mirror image in the sense that the associated differential Gerstenhaber algebras controlling the extended deformations of Ω$\Omega$ and J$J$ are isomorphic.     

An efficient community detection method based on rank centrality

Community detection is a very important problem in social network analysis. Classical clustering approach, K$K$-means, has been shown to be very efficient to detect communities in networks. However, K$K$-means is quite sensitive to the initial centroids or seeds, especially when it is used to detect communities. To solve this problem, in this study, we propose an efficient algorithm K$K$-rank, which selects the top-K$K$ nodes with the highest rank centrality as the initial seeds, and updates these seeds by using an iterative technique like K$K$-means. Then we extend K$K$-rank to partition directed, weighted networks, and to detect overlapping communities. The empirical study on synthetic and real networks show that K$K$-rank is robust and better than the state-of-the-art algorithms including K$K$-means, BGLL, LPA, infomap and OSLOM.     

On the parallel transport of the Ricci curvatures

Geometrical characterizations are given for the tensor R⋅S$R\cdot S$, where S$S$ is the Ricci tensor   of a (semi-)Riemannian manifold (M,g)$(M,g)$ and R$R$ denotes the curvature operator   acting on S$S$ as a derivation, and of the Ricci Tachibana tensor  _∧g⋅S${\wedge }_g\cdot S$, where the natural metrical operator  _∧g${\wedge }_g$ also acts as a derivation on S$S$. As a combination, the Ricci curvatures   associated with directions on M$M$, of which the isotropy determines that M$M$ is Einstein, are extended to the Ricci curvatures of Deszcz   associated with directions and planes on M$M$, and of which the isotropy determines that M$M$ is Ricci pseudo-symmetric in the sense of Deszcz.     

Studies on the third-harmonic generations in cylindrical quantum dots with an applied electric field

The third-harmonic generation (THG) coefficient for cylinder quantum dots with an applied electric field is theoretically investigated. Using the compact density-matrix approach and the iterative method, we get the analytical expression of the THG coefficient, and the numerical calculations of the typical GaAs/AlAs cylinder quantum dots are presented. The results show that the THG coefficient can reach the magnitude of 10⁻⁹ m²/V ². Apart from the length L$L$ and radius R$R$ of cylindrical quantum dots, both the parabolic confining potential and an applied electric field can also influence the THG coefficient.     

Two charges on a plane in a magnetic field: II. Moving neutral quantum system across a magnetic field

The moving neutral system of two Coulomb charges on a plane subject to a constant magnetic field B$B$ perpendicular to the plane is considered. It is shown that the composite system of finite total mass is bound for any center-of-mass momentum P$P$ and magnetic field strength; the energy of the ground state is calculated accurately using a variational approach. Its accuracy is cross-checked in a Lagrange-mesh method for B=1$B=1$  a.u. and in a perturbation theory at small B$B$ and P$P$. The constructed trial function has the property of being a uniform approximation of the exact eigenfunction. For a Hydrogen atom and a Positronium a double perturbation theory in B$B$ and P$P$ is developed and the first corrections are found algebraically. A phenomenon of a sharp change of energy behavior for a certain center-of-mass momentum and a fixed magnetic field is indicated.     

Skeleton of weighted social network

In the literature of social networks, understanding topological structure is an important scientific issue. In this paper, we construct a network from mobile phone call records and use the cumulative number of calls as a measure of the weight of a social tie. We extract skeletons from the weighted social network on the basis of the weights of ties, and we study their properties. We find that strong ties can support the skeleton in the network by studying the percolation characters. We explore the centrality of w$w$-skeletons based on the correlation between some centrality measures and the skeleton index w$w$ of a vertex, and we find that the average centrality of a w$w$-skeleton increases as w$w$ increases. We also study the cumulative degree distribution of the successive w$w$-skeletons and find that as w$w$ increases, the w$w$-skeleton tends to become more self-similar. Furthermore, fractal characteristics appear in higher w$w$-skeletons. We also explore the global information diffusion efficiency of w$w$-skeletons using simulations, from which we can see that the ties in the high w$w$-skeletons play important roles in information diffusion. Identifying such a simple structure of a w$w$-skeleton is a step forward toward understanding and representing the topological structure of weighted social networks.     

Empirical constraints on parton energy loss in nucleus–nucleus collisions at RHIC

We present empirical features of parton energy loss in nucleus–nucleus collisions at RHIC through studies of the spectra and nuclear modification factors (R_AA$R_{AA}$) for charged hadrons, neutral pions (π⁰${\pi }^0$) and non-photonic electrons. The flat distribution of R_AA$R_{AA}$ at high transverse momentum (pT$p_T$) for a given collision centrality is consistent with a scenario where parton energy loss ΔpT$\mathrm{\Delta }{p}_T$ is proportional to pT$p_T$. The centrality dependence of the parton energy loss indicates the absence of path length dependence in the magnitude of energy loss. The lack of strong path length dependence suggests a dynamical picture where the dense partonic medium undergoes rapid expansion and the density of the medium falls rapidly in the first a few Fermi interval, which may be much shorter than the full path length. Implications of the empirical constraints on the parton energy loss will also be discussed.     

Cyclic groups and quantum logic gates

We present a formula for an infinite number of universal quantum logic gates, which are 4$4$ by 4$4$ unitary solutions to the Yang–Baxter (Y–B) equation. We obtain this family from a certain representation of the cyclic group of order n$n$. We then show that this discrete   family, parametrized by integers n$n$, is in fact, a small sub-class of a larger continuous   family, parametrized by real numbers θ$\theta$, of universal quantum gates. We discuss the corresponding Yang-Baxterization and related symmetries in the concomitant Hamiltonian.     

Random matrix theory for transition strength densities in finite quantum systems: Results from embedded unitary ensembles

Embedded random matrix ensembles are generic models for describing statistical properties of finite isolated interacting quantum many-particle systems. For the simplest spinless fermion (or boson) systems, with say m$m$ fermions (or bosons) in N$N$ single particle states and interacting via k$k$-body interactions, we have EGUE(k$k$) [embedded GUE of k$k$-body interactions] with GUE embedding and the embedding algebra is U(N)$U\left(N\right)$. A finite quantum system, induced by a transition operator, makes transitions from its states to the states of the same system or to those of another system. Examples are electromagnetic transitions (then the initial and final systems are same), nuclear beta and double beta decay (then the initial and final systems are different), particle addition to or removal from a given system and so on. Towards developing a complete statistical theory for transition strength densities (transition strengths multiplied by the density of states at the initial and final energies), we have derived formulas for the lower order bivariate moments of the strength densities generated by a variety of transition operators. Firstly, for a spinless fermion system, using EGUE(k$k$) representation for a Hamiltonian that is k$k$-body and an independent EGUE(t$t$) representation for a transition operator that is t$t$-body and employing the embedding U(N)$U\left(N\right)$ algebra, finite-N$N$ formulas for moments up to order four are derived, for the first time, for the transition strength densities. Secondly, formulas for the moments up to order four are also derived for systems with two types of spinless fermions and a transition operator similar to beta decay and neutrinoless beta decay operators. In addition, moments formulas are also derived for a transition operator that removes k₀$k_0$ number of particles from a system of m$m$ spinless fermions. In the dilute limit, these formulas are shown to reduce to those for the EGOE version derived using the asymptotic limit theory of Mon and French (1975). Numerical results obtained using the exact formulas for two-body (k=2$k=2$) Hamiltonians (in some examples for k=3$k=3$ and 4$4$) and the asymptotic formulas clearly establish that in general the smoothed (with respect to energy) form of the bivariate transition strength densities take bivariate Gaussian form for isolated finite quantum systems. Extensions of these results to bosonic systems and EGUE ensembles with further symmetries are discussed.     

Effect of pressure on intersubband optical absorption coefficients and refractive index changes in a V-groove quantum wire

In this paper, the effect of hydrostatic pressure on the intersubband optical absorption and the refractive index changes in a GaAs/Ga_1−xAl_xAs ridge quantum wire are studied. We use analytical expressions for the linear and third-order nonlinear intersubband absorption coefficients and refractive index changes obtained by the compact-density matrix formalism. The linear, third-order nonlinear, and total intersubband absorption coefficients and refractive index changes are investigated at different pressures as a function of photon energy with known values of width wire (b$b$), the incident optical intensity (I$I$), and the angle θ$\theta$. According to the results obtained from the present work, we have found that the pressure plays an important role in the intersubband optical absorption coefficients and refractive index changes in a V-groove quantum wire.