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West central Georgia has become a burgeoning center for advanced manufacturing and logistics. With facilities for global brands across automotive, agriculture, tech, and biotech industries, the region (which includes Carroll, Coweta, Douglas, Haralson, Heard, Meriwether, and Troup counties) has experienced a 100+ percent surge in job demand for manufacturing engineers, machine operators, and material assembly shift technicians alone. This case study explores a cross-sector response to upskilling and reskilling talent in the region through West Georgia Technical College's establishment of a Regional Workforce Training Center, which has fostered impactful employer partnerships to drive skill acquisition for entry-level talent and incumbent workforces, enhance workforce diversity, and meet the evolving needs of both businesses and the community at large.

Myosin motors are fundamental biological actuators, powering diverse mechanical tasks in eukaryotic cells via ATP hydrolysis. Recent work revealed that myosin's velocity-dependent detachment rate can bridge actomyosin dynamics to macroscale Hill muscle predictions. However, the influence of this microscale unbinding, which we characterize by a dimensionless parameter $\alpha$, on macroscale energetic flows-such as power consumption, output and efficiency-remains elusive. Here we develop an analytical model of myosin dynamics that relates unbinding rates $\alpha$ to energetics. Our model agrees with published in-vivo muscle data and, furthermore, uncovers a performance-efficiency tradeoff governed by $\alpha$. To experimentally validate the tradeoff, we build HillBot, a robophysical model of Hill's muscle that mimics nonlinearity. Through HillBot, we decouple $\alpha$'s concurrent effect on performance and efficiency, demonstrating that nonlinearity drives efficiency. We compile 136 published measurements of $\alpha$ in muscle and myoblasts to reveal a distribution centered at $\alpha^* = 3.85 \pm 2.32$. Synthesizing data from our model and HillBot, we quantitatively show that $\alpha^*$ corresponds to a class of generalist actuators that are both relatively powerful and efficient, suggesting that the performance-efficiency tradeoff underpins the prevalence of $\alpha^*$ in nature. We leverage these insights and propose a nonlinear variable-impedance protocol to shift along a performance-efficiency axis in robotic applications., Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures. PDF of supplemental information available in zip download

Super Jupiters are giant planets with several Jupiter masses. It remains an open question whether these planets originate with such high masses or grow through collisions. Previous work demonstrates that warm super Jupiters tend to have more eccentric orbits compared to regular-mass warm Jupiters. This correlation between mass and eccentricity may indicate that planet-planet interactions significantly influence the warm giant planet demographics. Here we conducted a detailed characterization of a warm super Jupiter, TOI-2145b. This analysis utilized previous observations from TESS and Keck/HIRES, enhanced by new Rossiter-McLaughlin effect data from the NEID spectrometer on the 3.5 m WIYN Telescope. TOI-2145b is a $5.68^{+0.37}_{-0.34} M_{\rm Jup}$ planet on a moderate eccentricity ($e = 0.214^{+0.014}_{-0.014}$), 10.26-day orbit, orbiting an evolved A-star. We constrain the projected stellar obliquity to be $\lambda = 6.8^{+2.9}_{-3.8}$$^\circ$ from two NEID observations. Our $N$-body simulations suggest that the formation of super Jupiter TOI-2145b could involve either of two scenarios: a high initial mass or growth via collisions. On a population level, however, the collision scenario can better describe the mass-eccentricity distribution of observed warm Jupiters., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, AJ accepted

In this article, we characterize both Lusin's theorem and the existence of Borel representatives via the regularity properties of the measure in general topological measure spaces. As a corollary, we prove that Borel regularity of the measure is both a necessary and sufficient condition for these results to hold true in metric measure spaces.

The empirical wavelet transform is an adaptive multiresolution analysis tool based on the idea of building filters on a data-driven partition of the Fourier domain. However, existing 2D extensions are constrained by the shape of the detected partitioning. In this paper, we provide theoretical results that permits us to build 2D empirical wavelet filters based on an arbitrary partitioning of the frequency domain. We also propose an algorithm to detect such partitioning from an image spectrum by combining a scale-space representation to estimate the position of dominant harmonic modes and a watershed transform to find the boundaries of the different supports making the expected partition. This whole process allows us to define the empirical watershed wavelet transform. We illustrate the effectiveness and the advantages of such adaptive transform, first visually on toy images, and next on both unsupervised texture segmentation and image deconvolution applications.

This paper analyzes the design and competitiveness of four neural network (NN) architectures recently proposed as decoders for forward error correction (FEC) codes. We first consider the so-called single-label neural network (SLNN) and the multi-label neural network (MLNN) decoders which have been reported to achieve near maximum likelihood (ML) performance. Here, we show analytically that SLNN and MLNN decoders can always achieve ML performance, regardless of the code dimensions -- although at the cost of computational complexity -- and no training is in fact required. We then turn our attention to two transformer-based decoders: the error correction code transformer (ECCT) and the cross-attention message passing transformer (CrossMPT). We compare their performance against traditional decoders, and show that ordered statistics decoding outperforms these transformer-based decoders. The results in this paper cast serious doubts on the application of NN-based FEC decoders in the short and medium block length regime., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, submitted for possible presentation in a conference (v2: Pre-FEC BER curves are corrected)

Attention mechanisms have revolutionized several domains of artificial intelligence, such as natural language processing and computer vision, by enabling models to selectively focus on relevant parts of the input data. While recent work has characterized the optimization dynamics of gradient descent (GD) in attention-based models and the structural properties of its preferred solutions, less is known about more general optimization algorithms such as mirror descent (MD). In this paper, we investigate the convergence properties and implicit biases of a family of MD algorithms tailored for softmax attention mechanisms, with the potential function chosen as the $p$-th power of the $\ell_p$-norm. Specifically, we show that these algorithms converge in direction to a generalized hard-margin SVM with an $\ell_p$-norm objective when applied to a classification problem using a softmax attention model. Notably, our theoretical results reveal that the convergence rate is comparable to that of traditional GD in simpler models, despite the highly nonlinear and nonconvex nature of the present problem. Additionally, we delve into the joint optimization dynamics of the key-query matrix and the decoder, establishing conditions under which this complex joint optimization converges to their respective hard-margin SVM solutions. Lastly, our numerical experiments on real data demonstrate that MD algorithms improve generalization over standard GD and excel in optimal token selection.

Gaia astrometry of nearby stars is precise enough to detect the tiny displacements induced by substellar companions, but radial velocity data are needed for definitive confirmation. Here we present radial velocity follow-up observations of 28 M and K stars with candidate astrometric substellar companions, which led to the confirmation of two systems, Gaia-4b and Gaia-5b, and the refutation of 21 systems as stellar binaries. Gaia-4b is a massive planet ($M = 11.8 \pm 0.7 \:\mathrm{M_J}$) in a $P = 571.3 \pm 1.4\:\mathrm{day}$ orbit with a projected semi-major axis $a_0=0.312 \pm 0.040\:\mathrm{mas}$ orbiting a $0.644 \pm 0.02 \:\mathrm{M_\odot}$ star. Gaia-5b is a brown dwarf ($M = 20.9 \pm 0.5\:\mathrm{M_J}$) in a $P = 358.58 \pm 0.19\:\mathrm{days}$ eccentric $e=0.6412 \pm 0.0027$ orbit with a projected angular semi-major axis of $a_0 = 0.947 \pm 0.038\:\mathrm{mas}$ around a $0.34 \pm 0.03 \mathrm{M_\odot}$ star. Gaia-4b is one of the first exoplanets discovered via the astrometric technique, and is one of the most massive planets known to orbit a low-mass star., Comment: Submitted to AAS journals. 26 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables

In this paper we introduce a reconciliation protocol with a two-step error correction scheme using a short blocklength low rate code and a long blocklength high rate code. We show that by using this two-step decoding method it is possible to achieve secret key rates beyond the Devetak-Winter bound. We simulate the protocol using short blocklength low-density parity check code, and show that we can obtain reconciliation efficiencies up to 1.5. Using these high reconciliation efficiencies, it is possible double the achievable distances of CV-QKD systems., Comment: Pre-print

The spin structure functions of the proton and the deuteron were measured during the EG4 experiment at Jefferson Lab in 2006. Data were collected for longitudinally polarized electron scattering off longitudinally polarized NH$_3$ and ND$_3$ targets, for $Q^2$ values as small as 0.012 and 0.02 GeV$^2$, respectively, using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS). This is the archival paper of the EG4 experiment that summaries the previously reported results of the polarized structure functions $g_1$, $A_1F_1$, and their moments $\overline \Gamma_1$, $\overline \gamma_0$, and $\overline I_{TT}$, for both the proton and the deuteron. In addition, we report on new results on the neutron $g_1$ extracted by combining proton and deuteron data and correcting for Fermi smearing, and on the neutron moments $\overline \Gamma_1$, $\overline \gamma_0$, and $\overline I_{TT}$ formed directly from those of the proton and the deuteron. Our data are in good agreement with the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule for the proton, deuteron, and neutron. Furthermore, the isovector combination was formed for $g_1$ and the Bjorken integral $\overline \Gamma_1^{p-n}$, and compared to available theoretical predictions. All of our results provide for the first time extensive tests of spin observable predictions from chiral effective field theory ($\chi$EFT) in a $Q^2$ range commensurate with the pion mass. They motivate further improvement in $\chi$EFT calculations from other approaches such as the lattice gauge method., Comment: 33 pages. 26 figures. Data table provided in supplementary material (30 pages)

This article deals with dihedral group actions on compact Riemann surfaces and the interplay between different geometric data associated to them. First, a bijective correspondence between geometric signatures and analytic representations is obtained. Second, a refinement of a result of Bujalance, Cirre, Gamboa and Gromadzki about signature realization is provided. Finally, we apply our results to isogeny decompositions of Jacobians by Prym varieties and by elliptic curves, extending results of Carocca, Recillas and Rodr\'iguez. In particular, we give a complete classification of Jacobians with dihedral action whose group algebra decomposition induces a decomposition into factors of the same dimension., Comment: 32 pages

Recent observations on the large-scale structure of the universe indicate that the cosmological constant cannot be the definitive answer to the nature of dark energy. Therefore, it is a good time to propose alternatives to understand the late-accelerated expansion of the universe. In this work we study the possibility that the acceleration of space-time is due to the topology of the universe. We assume that the topology of the universe is a principal fiber bundle whose base space is our 4-dimensional spacetime and the fiber is an $N$-dimensional Lie group that evolves with time. For the base space we consider a homogeneous and isotropic spacetime, we find that the base space is currently accelerating for $1 < N$ compact semi-simple Lie groups whose scale-factors are equal and for $1 < N$ non-Abelian Lie groups whose scale-factors are different and as long as its structure constants satisfy some conditions. However when we study the evolution of the density parameters these differ from the evolution within the $\Lambda$CDM model, this led us to think in the possibility of use a different group as fiber in order to obtain the right evolution of the density parameters. We conclude that it is possible that the accelerated expansion of the universe is due to consider a different topology of the universe as a principal fiber bundle., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures

Bell's states are among the most useful in quantum computing. These state are an orthonormal base of entagled states with two qubits. We propose alternative bases of entangled states. Some of these states depend on a continuous parameter. We present the quantum circuit and code of these alternative bases. In addition, we study quantum teleportation with these entangled states and present their quantum circuits and codes associated., Comment: 39 pages, 15 figures, minor corrections. Comments welcome

We study transits of several ``hot Jupiter'' systems - including WASP-12 b, WASP-43 b, WASP-103 b, HAT-P-23 b, KELT-16 b, WD 1856+534 b, and WTS-2 b - with the goal of detecting tidal orbital decay and extending the baselines of transit times. We find no evidence of orbital decay in any of the observed systems except for that of the extensively studied WASP-12 b. Although the orbit of WASP-12 b is unequivocally decaying, we find no evidence for acceleration of said orbital decay, with measured $\ddot{P} = (-7 \pm 8) \times 10^{-14} \rm ~s^{-1}$, against the expected acceleration decay of $\ddot{P} \approx -10^{-23} \rm ~s^{-1}$. In the case of WD 1856+534 b, there is a tentative detection of orbital growth with $\dot{P} = (5.0 \pm 1.5) \times 10^{-10}$. While statistically significant, we err on the side of caution and wait for longer follow-up observations to consider the measured $\dot{P}$ real. For most systems, we provide a 95\%-confidence lower limit on the tidal quality factor, $Q_\star'$. The possibility of detecting orbital decay in hot Jupiters via long-term radial velocity (RV) measurements is also explored. We find that $\sim 1 \rm ~m~s^{-1}$ precision in RVs will be required to detect orbital decay of WASP-12 b with only 3 yr of observations. Currently available RV measurements and precision are unable to detect orbital decay in any of the systems studied here., Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures; Accepted in MNRAS on 2024 August 30. Received 2024 August 29; in original form 2024 February 13

A code is locally recoverable when each symbol in one of its code words can be reconstructed as a function of $r$ other symbols. We use bundles of projective spaces over a line to construct locally recoverable codes with availability; that is, evaluation codes where each code word symbol can be reconstructed from several disjoint sets of other symbols. The simplest case, where the code's underlying variety is a plane, exhibits noteworthy properties: When $r = 1$, $2$, $3$, they are optimal; when $r \geq 4$, they are optimal with probability approaching $1$ as the alphabet size grows. Additionally, their information rate is close to the theoretical limit. In higher dimensions, our codes form a family of asymptotically good codes., Comment: 25 pages, 3 figures

We present the discovery of a low-density planet transiting TOI-5688 A b, a high-metallicity M2V star. This planet was discovered as part of the search for transiting giant planets ($R \gtrsim8$ M$_\oplus$) through the Searching for GEMS (Giant Exoplanets around M-dwarf Stars) survey. The planet TOI-5688 A b was discovered with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), and characterized with ground-based transits from Red Buttes Observatory (RBO), the Table Mountain Observatory of Pomona College, and radial velocity (RV) measurements with the Habitable-Zone Planet Finder (HPF) on the 10 m Hobby Eberly Telescope (HET) and NEID on the WIYN 3.5 m telescope. From the joint fit of transit and RV data, the mass of the planet is $124\pm24$ M$_\oplus$ and the radius is $10.4\pm0.7$ R$_\oplus$. This planet has a density of $0.61^{+0.20}_{-0.15}$ g/cm${}^3$, and is on a $\sim2.95$ day orbit around its host star. The spectroscopic and photometric analysis of the host star TOI-5688 A shows that it is a high metallicity ([Fe/H] $ = 0.47\pm0.16$ dex) M2V star, favoring the core-accretion formation pathway as the likely formation scenario for this planet. In this paper, we analyze potential mechanisms of planet formation in the context of the formation of TOI-5688 A b. Additionally, observations with Gaia suggest the presence of a wide-separation binary companion, TOI-5688 B, which has a projected separation of $\sim5"$ (1110 AU) and is an M4V. This makes TOI-5688 A b part of a growing number of GEMS in wide-separation binary systems., Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, Submitted to AJ, Comments are welcome

Continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) has been proposed as a method for securely exchanging keys to protect against the security concerns caused by potential advancements in quantum computing. In addition to optical fiber transmission, free-space optical (FSO) channel is an interesting channel for CV-QKD, as it is possible to share keys over this channel wirelessly. The instability of the FSO channel caused by turbulence-induced fading, however, can cause a degradation in the system's performance. One of the most important aspects of CV-QKD is the reconciliation step, which significantly impacts the performance of the CV-QKD system. Hence, rate-adaptive reconciliation is necessary for CV-QKD over FSO to combat the fluctuations in the channel and improve secret key rates (SKRs). Therefore, in this paper, we simulate the impact of discrete modulation on the reconciliation efficiency and consider the use of $d$-dimensional reconciliation with $d > 8$ to mitigate this impact, improving reconciliation efficiencies by up to 3.4%. We validate our results by experimentally demonstrating CV-QKD over a turbulent FSO link and demonstrate SKR gains by up to 165%. Furthermore, we optimise the reconciliation efficiency for FSO links, achieving additional SKR gains of up to 7.6%., Comment: Pre-print, submitted for journal review

The Mapper algorithm is a popular tool for visualization and data exploration in topological data analysis. We investigate an inverse problem for the Mapper algorithm: Given a dataset $X$ and a graph $G$, does there exist a set of Mapper parameters such that the output Mapper graph of $X$ is isomorphic to $G$? We provide constructions that affirmatively answer this question. Our results demonstrate that it is possible to engineer Mapper parameters to generate a desired graph., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures

Rings are complex structures surrounding giant planets and some minor bodies in the Solar System. While some formation mechanisms could also potentially foster their existence around (regular or irregular) satellites, none of these bodies currently bear these structures. We aim to understand the underlying mechanisms that govern the potential formation, stability, and/or decay of hypothetical circumsatellital rings (CSRs), orbiting the largest moons in the Solar System. This extends to the exploration of short-term morphological features within these rings, providing insights into the ring survival time-scales and the interactions that drive their evolution. To conduct this study, we use numerical N-body simulations under the perturbing influence of the host planet and other moon companions. We found that moons with a lower Roche-to-Hill radius can preserve their rings over extended periods. Moreover, the gravitational environment in which these rings are immersed influences the system's morphological evolution, inducing gaps through the excitation of eccentricity and inclination of constituent particles. Specifically, our results show that Iapetus' and Rhea's rings experience minimal variations in their orbital parameters, enhancing their long-term stability. This agrees with the hypothesis that some of the features of Iapetus and Rhea were produced by ancient ring systems, for example, the huge ridge in Iapetus equator as a result of a decaying ring. From a dynamical perspective, we found that there are no mechanisms that preclude the existence of CSRs and we attribute their current absence to non-gravitational phenomena. Effects such as stellar radiation, magnetic fields, and the influence of magnetospheric plasma can significantly impact the dynamics of constituent particles and trigger their decay, highlighing the importance of future studies on these effects., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

We present the design of the mechanical structure of the miniBeBe detector, a subsystem of the Multi-Purpose Detector, soon to enter into operation at the Nuclotron based Ion Collider fAcility of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. The miniBeBe detector was designed and is currently being developed by the MexNICA Collaboration to contribute to the level-zero trigger of the Time of Flight. The mechanical structure meets the requirements of minimizing the material budget and be free of ferromagnetic materials, without compromising its robustness. The design also allows easy module replacement for maintenance and overall removal at the end of the first stage of the experiment, without affecting the rest of the subsystems, to leave room for the installation of the Inner Tracking System. In addition, a Finite Element Method analysis of the mechanical components under load was performed. Based on this analysis, it was determined that the design meets the space constraints within the Multi-Purpose Detector, as well as a deformation of less than 1 mm with overall stress of less than 2 MPa, such that no material used in the design is at risk of mechanical failure during operation. A cooling system heat transfer analysis was performed showing that the detector Silicon Photo-Multipliers can be kept within a temperature range of 19$^{\circ}$C to 23$^{\circ}$C, which is adequate for their optimal performance., Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, 6 tables

Modern artificial intelligence (AI) systems are powered by foundation models. This paper presents a new set of foundation models, called Llama 3. It is a herd of language models that natively support multilinguality, coding, reasoning, and tool usage. Our largest model is a dense Transformer with 405B parameters and a context window of up to 128K tokens. This paper presents an extensive empirical evaluation of Llama 3. We find that Llama 3 delivers comparable quality to leading language models such as GPT-4 on a plethora of tasks. We publicly release Llama 3, including pre-trained and post-trained versions of the 405B parameter language model and our Llama Guard 3 model for input and output safety. The paper also presents the results of experiments in which we integrate image, video, and speech capabilities into Llama 3 via a compositional approach. We observe this approach performs competitively with the state-of-the-art on image, video, and speech recognition tasks. The resulting models are not yet being broadly released as they are still under development.

Given a closed subscheme $Z$ of a polarized abelian variety $(A,\ell)$ we define its vanishing threshold with respect to $\ell$ and relate it to the Seshadri constant of the ideal defining $Z.$ As a particular case, we introduce the notion of jets-separation thresholds, which naturally arise as the vanishing threshold of the $p$-infinitesimal neighborhood of a point. Afterwards, by means of Fourier-Mukai methods we relate the jets-separation thresholds with the surjectivity of certain higher Gauss-Wahl maps. As a consequence we obtain a criterion for the surjectivity of those maps in terms of the Seshadri constant of the polarization $\ell.$, Comment: 22 pages

In this paper we point out the natural relation between $\mathbb Q$-twisted objects of the derived category of abelian varieties, cohomological rank functions, and semihomogeneous vector bundles. We apply this to two basic classes of corresponding objects via the Fourier-Mukai-Poincar\'e transform: positive twists of the ideal sheaf of one point, and evaluation complexes of ample semihomogeneous vector bundles. This leads to $\mathbb Q^{\ge 0}$- graded section modules associated to line bundles on abelian varieties (containing the usual section rings), built by means of semihomogeneous vector bundles. We prove a duality relation between such section modules associated to dual polarizations. Other applications include formulas relating the thresholds of relevant cohomological rank functions appearing in this context. As a consequence we produce non-trivial obstructions to surjectivity of multiplication maps of global sections of certain line bundles., Comment: 19 pages

We show that quantum entanglement states are associated with multilinear polynomials that cannot be factored. By using these multilinear polynomials, we propose a geometric representation for entanglement states. In particular, we show that the Bell's states are associated with non-factorable real multilinear polynomial, which can be represented geometrically by three-dimensional surfaces. Furthermore, in this framework, we show that a quantum circuit can be seen as a geometric transformations of plane geometry. This phenomenon is analogous to gravity, where matter curves space-time. In addition, we show an analogy between quantum teleportation and operations involving multilinear polynomials., Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures. Minor corrections. Comments welcome

The first generation of ELT instruments includes an optical-infrared high-resolution spectrograph, indicated as ELT-HIRES and recently christened ANDES (ArmazoNes high Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph). ANDES consists of three fibre-fed spectrographs ([U]BV, RIZ, YJH) providing a spectral resolution of $\sim$100,000 with a minimum simultaneous wavelength coverage of 0.4-1.8 $\mu$m with the goal of extending it to 0.35-2.4 $\mu$m with the addition of a U arm to the BV spectrograph and a separate K band spectrograph. It operates both in seeing- and diffraction-limited conditions and the fibre feeding allows several, interchangeable observing modes including a single conjugated adaptive optics module and a small diffraction-limited integral field unit in the NIR. Modularity and fibre-feeding allow ANDES to be placed partly on the ELT Nasmyth platform and partly in the Coud\'e room. ANDES has a wide range of groundbreaking science cases spanning nearly all areas of research in astrophysics and even fundamental physics. Among the top science cases, there are the detection of biosignatures from exoplanet atmospheres, finding the fingerprints of the first generation of stars, tests on the stability of Nature's fundamental couplings, and the direct detection of the cosmic acceleration. The ANDES project is carried forward by a large international consortium, composed of 35 Institutes from 13 countries, forming a team of almost 300 scientists and engineers which include the majority of the scientific and technical expertise in the field that can be found in ESO member states., Comment: SPIE astronomical telescope and instrumentation 2024, in press

Here we resolve the real-space nature of the high-temperature, short-range charge correlations in the kagome metal ScV$_6$Sn$_6$. Diffuse scattering appears along a frustrated wave vector $\textbf{q}_H=(\frac{1}{3},\frac{1}{3},\frac{1}{2})$ at temperatures far exceeding the charge order transition $T_{CO}=92~\mathrm{K}$, preempting long-range charge order with wave vectors along $\textbf{q}_{\bar{K}}=(\frac{1}{3},\frac{1}{3},\frac{1}{3})$. Using a combination of real space and reciprocal space analysis, we resolve the nature of the interactions between the primary out-of-plane Sc-Sn chain instability and the secondary strain-mediated distortion of the in-plane V kagome network. A minimal model of the diffuse scattering data reveals a high-temperature, short-ranged "zig-zag" phase of in-plane correlations that maps to a frustrated triangular lattice Ising model with antiferromagnetic interactions and provides a real-space understanding of the origin of frustrated charge order in this material., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

We investigate the $\Lambda_c \to \Lambda \ell^{+} \nu_\ell$ decay with a focus on potential new physics (NP) effects in the $\ell = \mu$ channel. We employ an effective Hamiltonian within the framework of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT) to consider generalized dimension-6 semileptonic $c\to s$ operators of scalar, pseudoscalar, vector, axial-vector and tensor types. We rely on Lattice QCD (LQCD) for the hadronic transition form factors, using heavy quark spin symmetry (HQSS) to determine those that have not yet been obtained on the lattice. Uncertainties due to the truncation of the NP Hamiltonian and different implementations of HQSS are taken into account. As a result, we unravel the NP discovery potential of the $\Lambda_c\to \Lambda$ semileptonic decay in different observables. Our findings indicate high sensitivity to NP in lepton flavour universality ratios, probing multi-TeV scales in some cases. On the theoretical side, we identify LQCD uncertainties in axial and vector form factors as critical for improving NP sensitivity, alongside better SMEFT uncertainty estimations.

We report the discovery of a high velocity, very low-mass star or brown dwarf whose kinematics suggest it is unbound to the Milky Way. CWISE J124909.08+362116.0 was identified by citizen scientists in the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 program as a high proper motion ($\mu$ $=$ 0''9/yr) faint red source. Moderate resolution spectroscopy with Keck/NIRES reveals it to be a metal-poor early L subdwarf with a large radial velocity ($-$103$\pm$10 km/s), and its estimated distance of 125$\pm$8 pc yields a speed of 456$\pm$27 km/s in the Galactic rest frame, near the local escape velocity for the Milky Way. We explore several potential scenarios for the origin of this source, including ejection from the Galactic center $\gtrsim$3 Gyr in the past, survival as the mass donor companion to an exploded white dwarf. acceleration through a three-body interaction with a black hole binary in a globular cluster, and accretion from a Milky Way satellite system. CWISE J1249+3621 is the first hypervelocity very low mass star or brown dwarf to be found, and the nearest of all such systems. It may represent a broader population of very high velocity, low-mass objects that have undergone extreme accelerations., Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters

For a graph $G$, let Conf$(G,n)$ denote the classical configuration space of $n$ labelled points in $G$. Abrams introduced a cubical complex, denoted here by DConf$(G,n)$, sitting inside Conf$(G,n)$ as a strong deformation retract provided $G$ is suitably subdivided. Using discrete Morse Theory techniques, we extend Abrams' result to the realm of configurations having no $k$-fold collisions., Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures

Two semiconducting quantum dots (QDs) coupled through a superconductor constitute a minimal realisation of a Kitaev chain with Majorana zero modes (MZMs). Such MZMs can be detected by e.g., tunneling conductance between each QD and normal leads [Dvir et al, Nature 614, 445 (2023)]. We here discuss how the seemingly trivial substitution of one of the normal leads by a superconducting (SC) one gives rise to a plethora of new effects. In particular, the coupling to the SC lead induces non-local Majorana effects upon variations of the QDs' energies. Furthermore, the lowest excitation of the chain is no longer determined by the bulk gap but rather by the energy of an emergent subgap Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) state coexisting with the MZMs. The YSR state hybridizes with the MZMs when the coupling between the SC and the QD is larger than the spin splitting, spoiling the Majorana properties, including the quantized conductance., Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures

We establish necessary and sufficient conditions guaranteeing compactness of embeddings of fractional Sobolev spaces, Besov spaces, and Triebel-Lizorkin spaces, in the general context of quasi-metric-measure spaces. Although stated in the setting of quasi-metric spaces, the main results in this article are new, even in the metric setting. Moreover, by considering the more general category of quasi-metric spaces we are able to obtain these characterizations for optimal ranges of exponents that depend (quantitatively) on the geometric makeup of the underlying space.

We determine the temperature fluctuations associated with the Higgs boson $p_T$ spectrum through the derivation of the string tension distribution corresponding to the QCD-based Hagedorn function, frequently used to fit the transverse momentum distribution (TMD). The identified string tension fluctuations are heavy tailed, behaving similarly to the $q$-Gaussian distribution. After the convolution with the Schwinger mechanism, both approaches correctly describe the entire TMD. This approach is the onset for the nonthermal description of the particle production in ultrarelativistic pp collisions. By analyzing the data of pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} =13$ TeV, we found that the average temperature associated with the Higgs boson differential cross section is around 85 times greater than the estimated value for the charged particle TMD. Our results show that the Higgs boson production exhibits the largest deviation from the thermal description., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in PRC

Measuring Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering on the neutron is one of the necessary steps to understand the structure of the nucleon in terms of Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs). Neutron targets play a complementary role to transversely polarized proton targets in the determination of the GPD $E$. This poorly known and poorly constrained GPD is essential to obtain the contribution of the quarks' angular momentum to the spin of the nucleon. DVCS on the neutron was measured for the first time selecting the exclusive final state by detecting the neutron, using the Jefferson Lab longitudinally polarized electron beam, with energies up to 10.6 GeV, and the CLAS12 detector. The extracted beam-spin asymmetries, combined with DVCS observables measured on the proton, allow a clean quark-flavor separation of the imaginary parts of the GPDs $H$ and $E$., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures

We have analyzed phenology data and jumps in protein configurations with the nonlinear forecasting method proposed by May and Sugihara. Full plots of prediction quality as a function of dimensionality and forecasting time give fast and valuable information about Complex Systems dynamics., Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on stars can change the stars' magnetic field configurations and mass loss rates during the eruption and propagation and therefore, may affect the stars' rotation properties on long time-scales. The dynamics of stellar CMEs and their influence on the stellar angular momentum loss rate are not yet well understood. In order to start investigating these CME-related aspects on other stars, we conducted a series of magnetohydrodynamic simulations of CMEs on a solar-type star of moderate activity levels. The propagation and evolution of the CMEs were traced in the three-dimensional outputs and the temporal evolution of their dynamic properties (such as masses, velocities, and kinetic energies) were determined. The simulated stellar CMEs are more massive and energetic than their solar analog, which is a result of the stronger magnetic field on the surface of the simulated star than that of the Sun. The simulated CMEs display masses ranging from ~10^16 g to ~10^18 g and kinetic energies from ~10^31 erg to ~10^33 erg. We also investigated the instantaneous influence of the CMEs to the star's angular momentum loss rate. Our results suggest that angular momentum can either be added to or be removed from the star during the evolution of CME events. We found a positive correlation between the amplitude of the angular momentum loss rate variation and the CME's kinetic energy as well as mass, suggesting that more energetic/massive CMEs have higher possibility to add angular momentum to the star., Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures; accepted by ApJ

Rocky planets in compact configurations are the most common ones around M dwarfs. Many disks around very low mass stars (between 0.1 and 0.5 M$_\odot$) are rather compact and small (without observable substructures and radius less than 20 au), which favours the idea of an efficient radial drift that could enhance planet formation in compact orbits. We aim to investigate the potential formation paths of the observed close-in rocky exoplanet population around M dwarfs, assuming that planet formation could take place in compact disks with an efficient dust radial drift. We developed N-body simulations that include a sample of embryos growing by pebble accretion exposed to planet-disk interactions, star-planet tidal interactions and general relativistic corrections. For a star of 0.1 M$_\odot$ we considered different gas disk viscosity and initial embryo distributions. We also explore planet formation by pebble accretion around stars of 0.3 and 0.5 M$_\odot$. Lastly, for each stellar mass, we run simulations that include a sample of embryos growing by planetesimal accretion. Our main result is that the sample of simulated planets that grow by pebble accretion in a gas disk with low viscosity ($\alpha=10^{-4}$) can reproduce the close-in low-mass exoplanet population around M dwarfs in terms of multiplicity, masses and semi-major axis. Furthermore, we found that a gas disk with high viscosity ($\alpha=10^{-3}$) can not reproduce the observed planet masses. Also, we show that planetesimal accretion favours the formation of smaller planets than the ones formed by pebble accretion. Rocky planet formation around M dwarfs can take place in compact and small dust disks driven by an efficient radial drift in a gas disk with low viscosity. This result points towards a new approach in the direction of the disk conditions needed for rocky planet formation around very low mass stars., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

This paper provides a comprehensive tutorial on a family of Model Predictive Control (MPC) formulations, known as MPC for tracking, which are characterized by including an artificial reference as part of the decision variables in the optimization problem. These formulations have several benefits with respect to the classical MPC formulations, including guaranteed recursive feasibility under online reference changes, as well as asymptotic stability and an increased domain of attraction. This tutorial paper introduces the concept of using an artificial reference in MPC, presenting the benefits and theoretical guarantees obtained by its use. We then provide a survey of the main advances and extensions of the original linear MPC for tracking, including its non-linear extension. Additionally, we discuss its application to learning-based MPC, and discuss optimization aspects related to its implementation., Comment: (15 pages, 1 figure)

We introduce a novel generative model for the representation of joint probability distributions of a possibly large number of discrete random variables. The approach uses measure transport by randomized assignment flows on the statistical submanifold of factorizing distributions, which also enables to sample efficiently from the target distribution and to assess the likelihood of unseen data points. The embedding of the flow via the Segre map in the meta-simplex of all discrete joint distributions ensures that any target distribution can be represented in principle, whose complexity in practice only depends on the parametrization of the affinity function of the dynamical assignment flow system. Our model can be trained in a simulation-free manner without integration by conditional Riemannian flow matching, using the training data encoded as geodesics in closed-form with respect to the e-connection of information geometry. By projecting high-dimensional flow matching in the meta-simplex of joint distributions to the submanifold of factorizing distributions, our approach has strong motivation from first principles of modeling coupled discrete variables. Numerical experiments devoted to distributions of structured image labelings demonstrate the applicability to large-scale problems, which may include discrete distributions in other application areas. Performance measures show that our approach scales better with the increasing number of classes than recent related work.