The Direction of Time: Seven Arrows for One Stream? A Program

I review the role of entropy in the Second Law of Thermodynamics in providing time with a direction and explaining irreversibility. I then list seven seemingly different features, each characterizing an additional arrow. In one case, connected to Black Hole Physics, the arrow has been successfully merged with the thermodynamical and may serve as model; in another case, that of the Evolutionary drive, the adequate function has been identified as complexity. We define the aims of the program and also provide information for an alternative, geometrical (effective) approach.     

Leptogenesis from supersymmetry breaking

We show that soft supersymmetry breaking terms involving the heavy sneutrinos can lead to sneutrino-antisneutrino mixing and to new sources of CP violation, which are present even if a single generation is considered. These terms are naturally present in supersymmetric versions of leptogenesis scenarios, and they induce indirect CP violation in the decays of the heavy sneutrinos, eventually generating a baryon asymmetry. This new contribution can be comparable to or even dominate over the asymmetry produced in traditional leptogenesis scenarios.     

Two-channel Kondo effect in a modified single electron transistor

We suggest a simple system of two electron droplets which should display two-channel Kondo behavior at experimentally accessible temperatures. Stabilization of the two-channel Kondo fixed point requires fine control of the electrochemical potential in each droplet, which can be achieved by adjusting voltages on nearby gate electrodes. We study the conditions for obtaining this type of two-channel Kondo behavior, discuss the experimentally observable consequences, and explore the generalization to the multichannel Kondo case.     

The Sign and Micro-Origin of Complexity as Entropy (Conjectured Resolution of a Paradox)

Evolution produces ever more ordered matter, while also increasing its complexity all the time. There are various ways of measuring complexity, such as Kolmogorov's algorithmic complexity, drawn from information theory, and identified with entropy, enchancing irreversibility in harmony with the second law of thermodynamics. On the other hand, however, the creation of order should have reduced entropy; quoting Schroedinger, it represents "negentropy." To resolve this apparent contradiction we first review a similar set up (though with a totally different interaction) occurring in black holes, a model in which the physics are now explicit and fully understood at the quantum level.     

The sharp Hausdorff measure condition for length of projections

In a recent paper, Pertti Mattila asked which gauge functions have the property that for any Borel set with Hausdorff measure 0$">, the projection of to almost every line has positive length. We show that finiteness of , which is known to be sufficient for this property, is also necessary for regularly varying . Our proof is based on a random construction adapted to the gauge function.

     

Implementation of Statistical Process Control for Proteomic Experiments Via LC MS/MS

Statistical process control (SPC) is a robust set of tools that aids in the visualization, detection, and identification of assignable causes of variation in any process that creates products, services, or information. A tool has been developed termed Statistical Process Control in Proteomics (SProCoP) which implements aspects of SPC (e.g., control charts and Pareto analysis) into the Skyline proteomics software. It monitors five quality control metrics in a shotgun or targeted proteomic workflow. None of these metrics require peptide identification. The source code, written in the R statistical language, runs directly from the Skyline interface, which supports the use of raw data files from several of the mass spectrometry vendors. It provides real time evaluation of the chromatographic performance (e.g., retention time reproducibility, peak asymmetry, and resolution), and mass spectrometric performance (targeted peptide ion intensity and mass measurement accuracy for high resolving power instruments) via control charts. Thresholds are experiment- and instrument-specific and are determined empirically from user-defined quality control standards that enable the separation of random noise and systematic error. Finally, Pareto analysis provides a summary of performance metrics and guides the user to metrics with high variance. The utility of these charts to evaluate proteomic experiments is illustrated in two case studies.

Cusp Forms on GL(2n) with GL(n) × GL (n) Periods,and Simple Algebras

The notion of a period of a cusp form on GL(2,D(??)), with respect to the diagonal subgroup D(??)^X × D(??)^X, is defined. Here D is a simple algebra over a global field F with a ring ?? of adeles. For D^x = GL(1), the period is the value at 1/2 of the L-function of the cusp form on GL(2, ??). A cuspidal representation is called cyclic if it contains a cusp form with a non zero period. It is investigated whether the notion of cyclicity is preserved under the Deligne - Kazhdan correspondence, relating cuspidal representations on the group and its split form, where D is a matrix algebra. A local analogue is studied too, using the global technique. The method is based on a new bi-period summation formula. Local multiplicity one statements for spherical distributions, and non - vanishing properties of bi - characters, known only in a few cases, play a key role.     

The rotor-router shape is spherical

This column is a place for those bits of contagious mathematics that travel from person to person in the community, because they are so elegant, suprising, or appealing that one has an urge to pass them on. Contributions are most welcome.