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Explicit time-marching schemes are popular for solving time-dependent partial differential equations; one of the biggest challenges these methods suffer is increasing the critical time-marching step size that guarantees numerical stability. In general, there are two ways to increase the critical step size. One is to reduce the stiffness of the spatially discretized system, while the other is to design time-marching schemes with larger stability regions. In this paper, we focus on the recently proposed explicit generalized-$\alpha$ method for second-order hyperbolic equations and increase the critical step size by reducing the stiffness of the isogeometric-discretized system. In particular, we apply boundary penalization to lessen the system's stiffness. For $p$-th order $C^{p-1}$ isogeometric elements, we show numerically that the critical step size increases by a factor of $\sqrt{\frac{p^2-3p+6}{4}}$, which indicates the advantages of using the proposed method, especially for high-order elements. Various examples in one, two, and three dimensions validate the performance of the proposed technique.

Compaction bands play a key role in the deformation processes of porous rocks and explain different aspects of physical processes in geological formations. The state-of-the-art description of the localized strains that lead to compaction banding has limitations from the mechanical point of view. Thus, we describe the phenomenon using a consistent axiomatic formulation. We build a viscoplastic model using minimal assumptions; we base our model on six principles to study compaction band localization triggered by viscous effects. We analyze different stress states to determine the conditions that trigger compaction bands. Laboratory experiments show that a material undergoes different localizations depending on the confinement pressure; thus, we perform a series of numerical experiments that reproduce these phenomena under varying triaxial compression conditions. These simulations use a simple viscoplastic constitutive model for creep based on Perzyna's viscoplasticity and show how confinement changes the localization type for different triaxial tests. Our analysis allows us to describe this transition, band periodicity and spacing, and their dependence on the material parameters., Comment: Under Review

Certain applications that analyze damping effects require the solution of quadratic eigenvalue problems (QEPs). We use refined isogeometric analysis (rIGA) to solve quadratic eigenproblems. rIGA discretization, while conserving desirable properties of maximum-continuity isogeometric analysis (IGA), reduces the interconnection between degrees of freedom by adding low-continuity basis functions. This connectivity reduction in rIGA's algebraic system results in faster matrix LU factorizations when using multifrontal direct solvers. We compare computational costs of rIGA versus those of IGA when employing Krylov eigensolvers to solve quadratic eigenproblems arising in 2D vector-valued multifield problems. For large problem sizes, the eigencomputation cost is governed by the cost of LU factorization, followed by costs of several matrix-vector and vector-vector multiplications, which correspond to Krylov projections. We minimize the computational cost by introducing C^0 and C^1 separators at specific element interfaces for our rIGA generalizations of the curl-conforming Nedelec and divergence-conforming Raviart-Thomas finite elements. Let p be the polynomial degree of basis functions; the LU factorization is up to O((p-1)^2) times faster when using rIGA compared to IGA in the asymptotic regime. Thus, rIGA theoretically improves the total eigencomputation cost by O((p-1)^2) for sufficiently large problem sizes. Yet, in practical cases of moderate-size eigenproblems, the improvement rate deteriorates as the number of computed eigenvalues increases because of multiple matrix-vector and vector-vector operations. Our numerical tests show that rIGA accelerates the solution of quadratic eigensystems by O(p-1) for moderately sized problems when we seek to compute a reasonable number of eigenvalues.

The direct numerical simulation of metal additive manufacturing processes such as laser powder bed fusion is challenging due to the vast differences in spatial and temporal scales. Classical approaches based on locally refined finite elements combined with time-stepping schemes can only address the spatial multi-scale nature and provide only limited scaling potential for massively parallel computations. We address these shortcomings in a space-time Galerkin framework where the finite element interpolation also includes the temporal direction. In this setting, we construct four-dimensional meshes that are locally refined towards the laser spot and allow for varying temporal accuracy depending on the position in space. By splitting the mesh into conforming time slabs, we recover a stepwise solution to solve the space-time problem locally in time at this slab; additionally, we can choose time-slab sizes significantly larger than classical time-stepping schemes. As a result, we believe this setting to be well suited for large-scale parallelization. In our work, we use a continuous Galerkin-Petrov formulation of the nonlinear heat equation with an apparent heat capacity model to account for the phase change. We validate our approach by computing the AMB2018-02 benchmark, where we obtain an excellent agreement with the measured melt pool shape. Using the same setup, we demonstrate the performance potential of our approach by hatching a square area with a laser path length of about one meter.

We propose a time-adaptive predictor/multi-corrector method to solve hyperbolic partial differential equations, based on the generalized-$\alpha$ scheme that provides user-control on the numerical dissipation and second-order accuracy in time. Our time adaptivity uses an error estimation that exploits the recursive structure of the variable updates. The predictor/multicorrector method explicitly updates the equation system but computes the residual of the system implicitly. We analyze the method's stability and describe how to determine the parameters that ensure high-frequency dissipation and accurate low-frequency approximation. Subsequently, we solve a linear wave equation, followed by non-linear finite strain deformation problems with different boundary conditions. Thus, our method is a straightforward, stable and computationally efficient approach to simulate real-world engineering problems. Finally, to show the performance of our method, we provide several numerical examples in two and three dimensions. These challenging tests demonstrate that our predictor/multicorrector scheme dynamically adapts to sudden energy releases in the system, capturing impacts and boundary shocks. The method efficiently and stably solves dynamic equations with consistent and under-integrated mass matrices conserving the linear and angular momenta as well as the system's energy for long-integration times., Comment: Journal of Computational Physics (accepted)

The ExoClock project is an inclusive, integrated, and interactive platform that was developed to monitor the ephemerides of the Ariel targets to increase the mission efficiency. The project makes the best use of all available resources, i.e., observations from ground telescopes, mid-time values from the literature and finally, observations from space instruments. Currently, the ExoClock network includes 280 participants with telescopes capable of observing 85\% of the currently known Ariel candidate targets. This work includes the results of $\sim$1600 observations obtained up to the 31st of December 2020 from the ExoClock network. These data in combination with $\sim$2350 mid-time values collected from the literature are used to update the ephemerides of 180 planets. The analysis shows that 40\% of the updated ephemerides will have an impact on future scheduling as either they have a significantly improved precision, or they have revealed biases in the old ephemerides. With the new observations, the observing coverage and rate for half of the planets in the sample has been doubled or more. Finally, from a population perspective, we identify that the differences in the 2028 predictions between the old and the new ephemerides have an STD that is double what is expected from gaussian uncertainties. These findings have implications for planning future observations, where we will need to account for drifts potentially greater than the prediction uncertainties. The updated ephemerides are open and accessible to the wider exoplanet community both from our Open Science Framework (OSF) repository and our website., Comment: 9 pages (47 with appendices and references), 8 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. Revised based on the reviewer's comments

We present an energy-preserving mechanic formulation for dynamic quasi-brittle fracture in an Eulerian-Lagrangian formulation, where a second-order phase-field equation controls the damage evolution. The numerical formulation adapts in space and time to bound the errors, solving the mesh-bias issues these models typically suffer. The time-step adaptivity estimates the temporal truncation error of the partial differential equation that governs the solid equilibrium. The second-order generalized-$\alpha$ time-marching scheme evolves the dynamic system. We estimate the temporal error by extrapolating a first-order approximation of the present time-step solution using previous ones with backward difference formulas; the estimate compares the extrapolation with the time-marching solution. We use an adaptive scheme built on a residual minimization formulation in space. We estimate the spatial error by enriching the discretization with elemental bubbles; then, we localize an error indicator norm to guide the mesh refinement as the fracture propagates. The combined space and time adaptivity allows us to use low-order linear elements in problems involving complex stress paths. We efficiently and robustly use low-order spatial discretizations while avoiding mesh bias in structured and unstructured meshes. We demonstrate the method's efficiency with numerical experiments that feature dynamic crack branching, where the capacity of the adaptive space-time scheme is apparent. The adaptive method delivers accurate and reproducible crack paths on meshes with fewer elements., Comment: Preprint

We present an efficient algorithmic framework for constructing multi-level hp-bases that uses a data-oriented approach that easily extends to any number of dimensions and provides a natural framework for performance-optimized implementations. We only operate on the bounding faces of finite elements without considering their lower-dimensional topological features and demonstrate the potential of the presented methods using a newly written open-source library. First, we analyze a Fichera corner and show that the framework does not increase runtime and memory consumption when compared against the classical p-version of the finite element method. Then, we compute a transient example with dynamic refinement and derefinement, where we also obtain the expected convergence rates and excellent performance in computing time and memory usage.

We propose a new family of high-order explicit generalized-$\alpha$ methods for hyperbolic problems with the feature of dissipation control. Our approach delivers $2k,\, \left(k \in \mathbb{N}\right)$ accuracy order in time by solving $k$ matrix systems explicitly and updating the other $2k$ variables at each time-step. The user can control the numerical dissipation in the discrete spectrum's high-frequency regions by adjusting the method's coefficients. We study the method's spectrum behaviour and show that the CFL condition is independent of the accuracy order. The stability region remains invariant while we increase the accuracy order. Next, we exploit efficient preconditioners for the isogeometric matrix to minimize the computational cost. These preconditioners use a diagonal-scaled Kronecker product of univariate parametric mass matrices; they have a robust performance with respect to the spline degree and the mesh size, and their decomposition structure implies that their application is faster than a matrix-vector product involving the fully-assembled mass matrix. Our high-order schemes require simple modifications of the available implementations of the generalized-$\alpha$ method. Finally, we present numerical examples demonstrating the methodology's performance regarding single- and multi-patch IGA discretizations.

It is well-known that outliers appear in the high-frequency region in the approximate spectrum of isogeometric analysis of the second-order elliptic operator. Recently, the outliers have been eliminated by a boundary penalty technique. The essential idea is to impose extra conditions arising from the differential equation at the domain boundary. In this paper, we extend the idea to remove outliers in the superconvergent approximate spectrum of isogeometric analysis with optimally-blended quadrature rules. We show numerically that the eigenvalue errors are of superconvergence rate $h^{2p+2}$ and the overall spectrum is outlier-free. The condition number and stiffness of the resulting algebraic system are reduced significantly. Various numerical examples demonstrate the performance of the proposed method.

We propose a new class of high-order time-marching schemes with dissipation user-control and unconditional stability for parabolic equations. High-order time integrators can deliver the optimal performance of highly-accurate and robust spatial discretizations such as isogeometric analysis. The generalized-$\alpha$ method delivers unconditional stability and second-order accuracy in time and controls the numerical dissipation in the discrete spectrum's high-frequency region. Our goal is to extend the generalized-$alpha$ methodology to obtain a high-order time marching methods with high accuracy and dissipation in the discrete high-frequency range. Furthermore, we maintain the stability region of the original, second-order generalized-$alpha$ method foe the new higher-order methods. That is, we increase the accuracy of the generalized-$\alpha$ method while keeping the unconditional stability and user-control features on the high-frequency numerical dissipation. The methodology solve $k>1, k\in \mathbb{N}$ matrix problems and updates the system unknowns, which correspond to higher-order terms in Taylor expansions to obtain $(3/2k)^{th}$-order method for even $k$ and $(3/2k+1/2)^{th}$-order for odd $k$. A single parameter $\rho^\infty$ controls the dissipation, and the update procedure follows the formulation of the original second-order method. Additionally, we show that our method is A-stable and setting $\rho^\infty=0$ allows us to obtain an L-stable method. Lastly, we extend this strategy to analyze the accuracy order of a generic method.

Recent studies on metamorphic petrology as well as microstructural observations suggest the influence of mechanical effects upon chemically active metamorphic minerals. Thus, the understanding of such a coupling is crucial to describe the dynamics of geomaterials. In this effort, we derive a thermodynamically-consistent framework to characterize the evolution of chemically active minerals. We model the metamorphic mineral assemblages as a solid-species solution where the species mass transport and chemical reaction drive the stress generation process. The theoretical foundations of the framework rely on modern continuum mechanics, thermodynamics far from equilibrium, and the phase-field model. We treat the mineral solid solution as a continuum body, and following the Larch\'e and Cahn network model, we define displacement and strain fields. Consequently, we obtain a set of coupled chemo-mechanical equations. We use the aforementioned framework to study single minerals as solid solutions during metamorphism. Furthermore, we emphasise the use of the phase-field framework as a promising tool to model complex multi-physics processes in geoscience. Without loss of generality, we use common physical and chemical parameters found in the geoscience literature to portrait a comprehensive view of the underlying physics. Thereby, we carry out 2D and 3D numerical simulations using material parameters for metamorphic minerals to showcase and verify the chemo-mechanical interactions of mineral solid solutions that undergo spinodal decomposition, chemical reactions, and deformation.

At high temperature and pressure, solid diffusion and chemical reactions between rock minerals lead to phase transformations. Chemical transport during uphill diffusion causes phase separation, that is, spinodal decomposition. Thus, to describe the coarsening kinetics of the exsolution microstructure, we derive a thermodynamically consistent continuum theory for the multicomponent Cahn--Hilliard equations while accounting for multiple chemical reactions and neglecting deformations. Our approach considers multiple balances of microforces augmented by multiple constituent content balance equations within an extended Larch\'e--Cahn framework. As for the Larch\'e--Cahn framework, we incorporate into the theory the Larch\'e--Cahn derivatives with respect to the phase fields and their gradients. We also explain the implications of the resulting constrained gradients of the phase fields in the form of the gradient energy coefficients. Moreover, we derive a configurational balance that includes all the associated configurational fields in agreement with the Larch\'e--Cahn framework. We study phase separation in a three-component system whose microstructural evolution depends upon the reaction-diffusion interactions and to analyze the underlying configurational fields. This simulation portrays the interleaving between the reaction and diffusion processes and how the configurational tractions drive the motion of interfaces.

The Ariel mission will observe spectroscopically around 1000 exoplanets to further characterise their atmospheres. For the mission to be as efficient as possible, a good knowledge of the planets' ephemerides is needed before its launch in 2028. While ephemerides for some planets are being refined on a per-case basis, an organised effort to collectively verify or update them when necessary does not exist. In this study, we introduce the ExoClock project, an open, integrated and interactive platform with the purpose of producing a confirmed list of ephemerides for the planets that will be observed by Ariel. The project has been developed in a manner to make the best use of all available resources: observations reported in the literature, observations from space instruments and, mainly, observations from ground-based telescopes, including both professional and amateur observatories. To facilitate inexperienced observers and at the same time achieve homogeneity in the results, we created data collection and validation protocols, educational material and easy to use interfaces, open to everyone. ExoClock was launched in September 2019 and now counts over 140 participants from more than 15 countries around the world. In this release, we report the results of observations obtained until the 15h of April 2020 for 119 Ariel candidate targets. In total, 632 observations were used to either verify or update the ephemerides of 83 planets. Additionally, we developed the Exoplanet Characterisation Catalogue (ECC), a catalogue built in a consistent way to assist the ephemeris refinement process. So far, the collaborative open framework of the ExoClock project has proven to be highly efficient in coordinating scientific efforts involving diverse audiences. Therefore, we believe that it is a paradigm that can be applied in the future for other research purposes, too., Comment: 33 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in Experimental Astronomy, data available through OSF at DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/3W7HM

There is growing use of technology-enabled contact tracing, the process of identifying potentially infected COVID-19 patients by notifying all recent contacts of an infected person. Governments, technology companies, and research groups alike have been working towards releasing smartphone apps, using IoT devices, and distributing wearable technology to automatically track "close contacts" and identify prior contacts in the event an individual tests positive. However, there has been significant public discussion about the tensions between effective technology-based contact tracing and the privacy of individuals. To inform this discussion, we present the results of seven months of online surveys focused on contact tracing and privacy, each with 100 participants. Our first surveys were on April 1 and 3, before the first peak of the virus in the US, and we continued to conduct the surveys weekly for 10 weeks (through June), and then fortnightly through November, adding topical questions to reflect current discussions about contact tracing and COVID-19. Our results present the diversity of public opinion and can inform policy makers, technologists, researchers, and public health experts on whether and how to leverage technology to reduce the spread of COVID-19, while considering potential privacy concerns. We are continuing to conduct longitudinal measurements and will update this report over time; citations to this version of the report should reference Report Version 2.0, December 4, 2020., Comment: 37 pages, 11 figures. Supercedes arXiv:2005.06056

In this paper, we describe a stable finite element formulation for advection-diffusion-reaction problems that allows for robust automatic adaptive strategies to be easily implemented. We consider locally vanishing, heterogeneous, and anisotropic diffusivities, as well as advection-dominated diffusion problems. The general stabilized finite element framework was described and analyzed in arXiv:1907.12605v3 for linear problems in general, and tested for pure advection problems. The method seeks for the discrete solution through a residual minimization process on a proper stable discontinuous Galerkin (dG) dual norm. This technique leads to a saddle-point problem that delivers a stable discrete solution and a robust error estimate that can drive mesh adaptivity. In this work, we demonstrate the efficiency of the method in extreme scenarios, delivering stable solutions. The quality and performance of the solutions are comparable to classical discontinuous Galerkin formulations in the respective discrete space norm on each mesh. Meanwhile, this technique allows us to solve on coarse meshes and adapt the solution to achieve a user-specified solution quality.

We model incompressible flows with an adaptive stabilized finite element method Stokes flows, which solves a discretely stable saddle-point problem to approximate the velocity-pressure pair. Additionally, this saddle-point problem delivers a robust error estimator to guide mesh adaptivity. We analyze the accuracy of different discrete velocity-pressure pairs of continuous finite element spaces, which do not necessarily satisfy the discrete inf-sup condition. We validate the framework's performance with numerical examples.

Technology advances in areas such as sensors, IoT, and robotics, enable new collaborative applications (e.g., autonomous devices). A primary requirement for such collaborations is to have a secure system which enables information sharing and information flow protection. Policy-based management system is a key mechanism for secure selective sharing of protected resources. However, policies in each party of such a collaborative environment cannot be static as they have to adapt to different contexts and situations. One advantage of collaborative applications is that each party in the collaboration can take advantage of knowledge of the other parties for learning or enhancing its own policies. We refer to this learning mechanism as policy transfer. The design of a policy transfer framework has challenges, including policy conflicts and privacy issues. Policy conflicts typically arise because of differences in the obligations of the parties, whereas privacy issues result because of data sharing constraints for sensitive data. Hence, the policy transfer framework should be able to tackle such challenges by considering minimal sharing of data and support policy adaptation to address conflict. In the paper we propose a framework that aims at addressing such challenges. We introduce a formal definition of the policy transfer problem for attribute-based policies. We then introduce the transfer methodology that consists of three sequential steps. Finally we report experimental results., Comment: Presented at AAAI FSS-20: Artificial Intelligence in Government and Public Sector, Washington, DC, USA

We introduce a boundary penalization technique to improve the spectral approximation of isogeometric analysis (IGA). The technique removes the outliers appearing in the high-frequency region of the approximate spectrum when using the $C^{p-1}, p$-th ($p\ge3$) order isogeometric elements. We focus on the classical Laplacian (Dirichlet) eigenvalue problem in 1D to illustrate the idea and then use the tensor-product structure to generate the stiffness and mass matrices for multiple dimensional problems. To remove the outliers, we penalize the product of the higher-order derivatives from both the solution and test spaces at the domain boundary. Intuitively, we construct a better approximation by weakly imposing features of the exact solution. Effectively, we add terms to the variational formulation at the boundaries with minimal extra computational cost. We then generalize the idea to remove the outliers for the isogeometric analysis to the Neumann eigenvalue problem (for $p\ge2$). The boundary penalization does not change the test and solution spaces. In the limiting case when the penalty goes to infinity, we perform the dispersion analysis of $C^2$ cubic elements for Dirichlet eigenvalue problem and $C^1$ quadratic elements for Neumann eigenvalue problem. We obtain the analytical eigenpairs for the resulting matrix eigenvalue problems. Numerical experiments show optimal convergence rates for the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the discrete operator., Comment: 30 pages

We use the refined isogeometric analysis (rIGA) to solve generalized Hermitian eigenproblems $({Ku=\lambda Mu})$. The rIGA framework conserves the desirable properties of maximum-continuity isogeometric analysis (IGA) discretizations while reducing the computation cost of the solution through partitioning the computational domain by adding zero-continuity basis functions. As a result, rIGA enriches the approximation space and decreases the interconnection between degrees of freedom. We compare computational costs of rIGA versus those of IGA when employing a Lanczos eigensolver with a shift-and-invert spectral transformation. When all eigenpairs within a given interval ${[\lambda_s,\lambda_e]}$ are of interest, we select several shifts ${\sigma_k\in[\lambda_s,\lambda_e]}$ using a spectrum slicing technique. For each shift $\sigma_k$, the cost of factorization of the spectral transformation matrix ${K-\sigma_k M}$ drives the total computational cost of the eigensolution. Several multiplications of the operator matrices ${(K-\sigma_k M)^{-1} M}$ by vectors follow this factorization. Let $p$ be the polynomial degree of basis functions and assume that IGA has maximum continuity of ${p-1}$, while rIGA introduces $C^0$ separators to minimize the factorization cost. For this setup, our theoretical estimates predict computational savings to compute a fixed number of eigenpairs of up to ${O(p^2)}$ in the asymptotic regime, that is, large problem sizes. Yet, our numerical tests show that for moderately-sized eigenproblems, the total computational cost reduction is $O(p)$. Nevertheless, rIGA improves the accuracy of every eigenpair of the first $N_0$ eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. Here, we allow $N_0$ to be as large as the total number of eigenmodes of the original maximum-continuity IGA discretization.

We present a fully-coupled, implicit-in-time framework for solving a thermodynamically-consistent Cahn-Hilliard Navier-Stokes system that models two-phase flows. In this work, we extend the block iterative method presented in Khanwale et al. [\textit{Simulating two-phase flows with thermodynamically consistent energy stable Cahn-Hilliard Navier-Stokes equations on parallel adaptive octree based meshes}, J. Comput. Phys. (2020)], to a fully-coupled, provably second-order accurate scheme in time, while maintaining energy-stability. The new method requires fewer matrix assemblies in each Newton iteration resulting in faster solution time. The method is based on a fully-implicit Crank-Nicolson scheme in time and a pressure stabilization for an equal order Galerkin formulation. That is, we use a conforming continuous Galerkin (cG) finite element method in space equipped with a residual-based variational multiscale (RBVMS) procedure to stabilize the pressure. We deploy this approach on a massively parallel numerical implementation using parallel octree-based adaptive meshes. We present comprehensive numerical experiments showing detailed comparisons with results from the literature for canonical cases, including the single bubble rise, Rayleigh-Taylor instability, and lid-driven cavity flow problems. We analyze in detail the scaling of our numerical implementation., Comment: 55 pages, 18 figures, 3 tables, version accepted in Computer Physics Communications

We report measurements of the $\bar{B}^0 \to D^{*+} \ell^{-} \bar{\nu}_l$ and $B^- \to D^{0} \ell^{-} \bar{\nu}_l$ processes using 34.6 fb$^{-1}$ of collision events recorded by the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+ e^-$ collider. For the $B^-\to D^{0}\ell^-\bar\nu_\ell$ channel, we present first studies that isolate this decay from other semileptonic processes and backgrounds. We report a measurement of the $\bar{B}^0 \to D^{*+} \ell^{-} \bar{\nu}_l$ branching fraction and obtain ${\cal B}(\bar{B}^0 \to D^{*+} \ell^{-} \bar{\nu}_l) = \left(4.60 \pm 0.05_{\mathrm{stat}}\pm0.17_{\mathrm{syst}} \pm 0.45_{\pi_s}\right) \%$, in agreement with the world average. Here, the uncertainties are statistical, systematic, and related to slow pion reconstruction, respectively. The systematic uncertainties are limited by the statistics of auxiliary measurements and will improve in the future. We also report differential branching fractions in five bins of the hadronic recoil parameter $w$ for $\bar{B}^0 \to D^{*+} \ell^{-} \bar{\nu}_l$, unfolded to account for resolution and efficiency effects., Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures

Under compressive creep, visco-plastic solids experiencing internal mass transfer processes have been recently proposed to accommodate singular cnoidal wave solutions, as material instabilities at the stationary wave limit. These instabilities appear when the loading rate is significantly faster than the capability of the material to diffuse internal perturbations and lead to localized failure features (e.g., cracks and compaction bands). This type of solution, generally found in fluids, has strong nonlinearities and periodic patterns. Due to the singular nature of the solutions, the applicability of the theory is currently limited. Additionally, effective numerical tools require proper regularization to overcome the challenges that singularity induces. We focus on the numerical treatment of the governing equation using a nonlinear approach building on a recent adaptive stabilized finite element method. This method provides a residual representation to drive adaptive mesh refinement, a particularly useful feature for the problem at hand. We compare against analytical and standard finite element solutions to demonstrate the performance of our approach. We then investigate the sensitivity of the diffusivity ratio, main parameter of the problem, and identify multiple possible solutions, with multiple stress peaks. Finally, we show the evolution of the spacing between peaks for all solutions as a function of that parameter.

We devise a stabilized method to weakly enforce bound constraints in the discrete solution of advection-dominated diffusion problems. This method combines a nonlinear penalty formulation with a discontinuous Galerkin-based residual minimization method. We illustrate the efficiency of this scheme for both uniform and adaptive meshes through proper numerical examples.

We propose a goal-oriented mesh-adaptive algorithm for a finite element method stabilized via residual minimization on dual discontinuous-Galerkin norms. By solving a saddle-point problem, this residual minimization delivers a stable continuous approximation to the solution on each mesh instance and a residual projection onto a broken polynomial space, which is a robust error estimator to minimize the discrete energy norm via automatic mesh refinement. In this work, we propose and analyze a goal-oriented adaptive algorithm for this stable residual minimization. We solve the primal and adjoint problems considering the same saddle-point formulation and different right-hand sides. By solving a third stable problem, we obtain two efficient error estimates to guide goal-oriented adaptivity. We illustrate the performance of this goal-oriented adaptive strategy on advection-diffusion-reaction problems.

There is growing interest in technology-enabled contact tracing, the process of identifying potentially infected COVID-19 patients by notifying all recent contacts of an infected person. Governments, technology companies, and research groups alike recognize the potential for smartphones, IoT devices, and wearable technology to automatically track "close contacts" and identify prior contacts in the event of an individual's positive test. However, there is currently significant public discussion about the tensions between effective technology-based contact tracing and the privacy of individuals. To inform this discussion, we present the results of a sequence of online surveys focused on contact tracing and privacy, each with 100 participants. Our first surveys were on April 1 and 3, and we report primarily on those first two surveys, though we present initial findings from later survey dates as well. Our results present the diversity of public opinion and can inform the public discussion on whether and how to leverage technology to reduce the spread of COVID-19. We are continuing to conduct longitudinal measurements, and will update this report over time; citations to this version of the report should reference Report Version 1.0, May 8, 2020. NOTE: As of December 4, 2020, this report has been superseded by Report Version 2.0, found at arXiv:2012.01553. Please read and cite Report Version 2.0 instead., Comment: 32 pages, 10 figures (including 5 in appendix B), 1 table, 2 appendices. NOTE: As of December 4, 2020, this report has been superseded by Report Version 2.0,found at arXiv:2012.01553. Please read and cite Report Version 2.0 instead

Deep learning (DL) is a numerical method that approximates functions. Recently, its use has become attractive for the simulation and inversion of multiple problems in computational mechanics, including the inversion of borehole logging measurements for oil and gas applications. In this context, DL methods exhibit two key attractive features: a) once trained, they enable to solve an inverse problem in a fraction of a second, which is convenient for borehole geosteering operations as well as in other real-time inversion applications. b) DL methods exhibit a superior capability for approximating highly-complex functions across different areas of knowledge. Nevertheless, as it occurs with most numerical methods, DL also relies on expert design decisions that are problem specific to achieve reliable and robust results. Herein, we investigate two key aspects of deep neural networks (DNNs) when applied to the inversion of borehole resistivity measurements: error control and adequate selection of the loss function. As we illustrate via theoretical considerations and extensive numerical experiments, these interrelated aspects are critical to recover accurate inversion results.

Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) are measurement devices long used in transmission systems and today even more essential for a proper monitoring of distribution grids. The expected massive penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) is slowly taking place, carrying along a new set of challenges that put to test traditional instruments and requiring more performance and flexibility to adapt to this evolving scenario. Cheap devices based on single board computer (SBC) are proving to be a valid alternative to traditional PMU architectures, able to combine together high-performance, great versatility and low-cost. However, such devices lack a proper modeling of their measurement errors that conversely would be extremely useful for improving their design and evaluate their performance in accordance with the relevant standards. The paper intends to fill this gap by discussing the error sources and their effects on the observed signals. An analysis of error statistics is presented, in order to give a more complete metrological characterization., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables