Conical diffraction and gap solitons in honeycomb photonic lattices

We study wave dynamics in honeycomb photonic lattices, and demonstrate the unique phenomenon of conical diffraction around the singular diabolical (zero-effective-mass) points connecting the first and second bands. This constitutes the prediction and first experimental observation of conical diffraction arising solely from a periodic potential. It is also the first study on k space singularities in photonic lattices. In addition, we demonstrate "honeycomb gap solitons" residing in the gap between the second and the third bands, reflecting the special properties of these lattices.     

Ground state fidelity from tensor network representations

For any D-dimensional quantum lattice system, the fidelity between two ground state many-body wave functions is mapped onto the partition function of a D-dimensional classical statistical vertex lattice model with the same lattice geometry. The fidelity per lattice site, analogous to the free energy per site, is well defined in the thermodynamic limit and can be used to characterize the phase diagram of the model. We explain how to compute the fidelity per site in the context of tensor network algorithms, and demonstrate the approach by analyzing the two-dimensional quantum Ising model with transverse and parallel magnetic fields.     

Observation of soliton tunneling phenomena and soliton ejection

We study, theoretically and experimentally, the nonlinear dynamics of a wave packet launched inside a trap potential. Increasing the power of the wave packet transforms its dynamics from linear tunneling through a potential barrier, to soliton tunneling, and eventually, above a well-defined threshold, to the ejection of a soliton from the potential trap.     

The Double-Sided Information Bottleneck Function

A double-sided variant of the information bottleneck method is considered. Let (X,Y) be a bivariate source characterized by a joint pmf PXY. The problem is to find two independent channels PU|X and PV|Y (setting the Markovian structure U→X→Y→V), that maximize I(U;V) subject to constraints on the relevant mutual information expressions: I(U;X) and I(V;Y). For jointly Gaussian X and Y, we show that Gaussian channels are optimal in the low-SNR regime but not for general SNR. Similarly, it is shown that for a doubly symmetric binary source, binary symmetric channels are optimal when the correlation is low and are suboptimal for high correlations. We conjecture that Z and S channels are optimal when the correlation is 1 (i.e., X=Y) and provide supporting numerical evidence. Furthermore, we present a Blahut–Arimoto type alternating maximization algorithm and demonstrate its performance for a representative setting. This problem is closely related to the domain of biclustering.     

Statistical Physics of Fracture Surfaces Morphology

Experiments on fracture surface morphologies offer increasing amounts of data that can be analyzed using methods of statistical physics. One finds scaling exponents associated with correlation and structure functions, indicating a rich phenomenology of anomalous scaling. We argue that traditional models of fracture fail to reproduce this rich phenomenology and new ideas and concepts are called for. We present some recent models that introduce the effects of deviations from homogeneous linear elasticity theory on the morphology of fracture surfaces, successfully reproducing the multiscaling phenomenology at least in 1+1 dimensions. For surfaces in 2+1 dimensions we introduce novel methods of analysis based on projecting the data on the irreducible representations of the SO(2) symmetry group. It appears that this approach organizes effectively the rich scaling properties. We end up proposing new experiments in which the rotational symmetry is not broken, such that the scaling properties should be particularly simple.     

Diophantine geometry over groups VI: the elementary theory of a free group

This paper is the sixth in a sequence on the structure of sets of solutions to systems of equations in a free group, projections of such sets, and the structure of elementary sets defined over a free group. In the sixth paper we use the quantifier elimination procedure presented in the two parts of the fifth paper in the sequence, to answer some of A. Tarski’s problems on the elementary theory of a free group, and to classify finitely generated (f.g.) groups that are elementarily equivalent to a non-abelian f.g. free group. Received (resubmission): January 2004 Revision: January 2006 Accepted: January 2006 Partially supported by an Israel Academy of Sciences fellowship.     

Diophantine geometry over groups V2: quantifier elimination II

This paper is the sixth in a sequence on the structure of sets of solutions to systems of equations in a free group, projections of such sets, and the structure of elementary sets defined over a free group. In the two papers on quantifier elimination we use the iterative procedure that validates the correctness of an AE sentence defined over a free group, presented in the fourth paper, to show that the Boolean algebra of AE sets defined over a free group is invariant under projections, hence, show that every elementary set defined over a free group is in the Boolean algebra of AE sets. The procedures we use for quantifier elimination, presented in this paper, enable us to answer affirmatively some of Tarski’s questions on the elementary theory of a free group in the last paper of this sequence. Received (resubmission): January 2004 Revision: November 2005 Accepted: March 2006 Partially supported by an Israel Academy of Sciences Fellowship.     

Nonholonomic dynamics of the Twistcar vehicle: asymptotic analysis and hybrid dynamics of frictional skidding

Nonlinear Dynamics - The Twistcar vehicle is a classic example of a nonholonomic dynamical system. The vehicle model consists of two rigid links connected by an actuated rotary joint and supported...     

Painlevé’s paradox and dynamic jamming in simple models of passive dynamic walking

Painlevé’s paradox occurs in the rigid-body dynamics of mechanical systems with frictional contacts at configurations where the instantaneous solution is either indeterminate or inconsistent. Dynamic jamming is a scenario where the solution starts with consistent slippage and then converges in finite time to a configuration of inconsistency, while the contact force grows unbounded. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that these two phenomena are also relevant to the field of robotic walking, and can occur in two classical theoretical models of passive dynamic walking — the rimless wheel and the compass biped. These models typically assume sticking contact and ignore the possibility of foot slippage, an assumption which requires sufficiently large ground friction. Nevertheless, even for large friction, a perturbation that involves foot slippage can be kinematically enforced due to external forces, vibrations, or loose gravel on the surface. In this work, the rimless wheel and compass biped models are revisited, and it is shown that the periodic solutions under sticking contact can suffer from both Painlevé’s paradox and dynamic jamming when given a perturbation of foot slippage. Thus, avoidance of these phenomena and analysis of orbital stability with respect to perturbations that include slippage are of crucial importance for robotic legged locomotion.