Search

We present measurements of $B \to K{}^{*}(892)\gamma$ decays using $365\,{\rm fb}^{-1}$ of data collected from 2019 to 2022 by the Belle~II experiment at the SuperKEKB asymmetric-energy $e^+e^-$ collider. The data sample contains $(387 \pm 6) \times 10^6$ $B\overline{B}$ events. We measure branching fractions ($\mathcal{B}$) and $C\!P$ asymmetries ($\mathcal{A}_{C\!P}$) for both $B^{0}\to K{}^{*0}\gamma$ and $B^{+}\to K{}^{*+}\gamma$ decays. The difference in $C\!P$ asymmetries ($\Delta \mathcal{A}_{C\!P}$) and the isospin asymmetry ($\Delta_{0+}$) between these neutral and charged channels are also measured. We obtain the following branching fractions and $C\!P$ asymmetries: $\mathcal{B} (B^{0} \to K{}^{*0}\gamma) = (4.14 \pm 0.10 \pm 0.11 ) \times 10^{-5}$, $\mathcal{B} (B^{+} \to K{}^{*+}\gamma) = (4.02 \pm 0.13 \pm 0.13 )\times 10^{-5}$, $\mathcal{A}_{C\!P} (B^{0} \to K{}^{*0}\gamma) = (-3.3 \pm 2.3 \pm 0.4 )\%$, and $\mathcal{A}_{C\!P} (B^{+} \to K{}^{*+}\gamma) = (-0.7 \pm 2.9 \pm 0.6 )\%$. The measured difference in $C\!P$ asymmetries is $\Delta \mathcal{A}_{C\!P} = (+2.6 \pm 3.8 \pm 0.7 )\%$, and the measured isospin asymmetry is $\Delta_{0+} = (+5.0 \pm 2.0 \pm 1.5 )\%$. The first uncertainties listed are statistical and the second are systematic. These results are consistent with world-average values and theory predictions.

Very-high-energy (0.1-100 TeV) gamma-ray emission was observed in HAWC data from the lobes of the microquasar SS 433, making them the first set of astrophysical jets that were resolved at TeV energies. In this work, we update the analysis of SS 433 using 2,565 days of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory. Our analysis reports the detection of a point-like source in the east lobe at a significance of $6.6\,\sigma$ and in the west lobe at a significance of $8.2\,\sigma$. For each jet lobe, we localize the gamma-ray emission and identify a best-fit position. The locations are close to the X-ray emission sites "e1" and "w1" for the east and west lobes, respectively. We analyze the spectral energy distributions and find that the energy spectra of the lobes are consistent with a simple power-law $\text{d}N/\text{d}E\propto E^{\alpha}$ with $\alpha = -2.44^{+0.13+0.04}_{-0.12-0.04}$ and $\alpha = -2.35^{+0.12+0.03}_{-0.11-0.03}$ for the east and west lobes, respectively. The maximum energy of photons from the east and west lobes reaches 56 TeV and 123 TeV, respectively. We compare our observations to various models and conclude that the very-high-energy gamma-ray emission can be produced by a population of electrons that were efficiently accelerated.

We present a measurement of the branching fraction and time-dependent charge-parity ($CP$) decay-rate asymmetries in $B^0 \to J/\psi \pi^0$ decays. The data sample was collected with the Belle~II detector at the SuperKEKB asymmetric $e^+e^-$ collider in 2019-2022 and contains $(387\pm 6)\times 10^6$ $B\overline{B}$ meson pairs from $\Upsilon(4S)$ decays. We reconstruct $392\pm 24$ signal decays and fit the $CP$ parameters from the distribution of the proper-decay-time difference of the two $B$ mesons. We measure the branching fraction to be $B(B^0 \to J/\psi \pi^0)=(2.02 \pm 0.12 \pm 0.10)\times 10^{-5}$ and the direct and mixing-induced $CP$ asymmetries to be $C_{CP}=0.13 \pm 0.12 \pm 0.03$ and $S_{CP}=-0.88 \pm 0.17 \pm 0.03$, respectively, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. We observe mixing-induced $CP$ violation with a significance of $5.0$ standard deviations for the first time in this mode.

We propose a data-driven approach using a Restricted Boltzmann Machine (RBM) to solve the Schr\"odinger equation in configuration space. Traditional Configuration Interaction (CI) methods, while powerful, are computationally expensive due to the large number of determinants required. Our approach leverages RBMs to efficiently identify and sample the most significant determinants, accelerating convergence and reducing computational cost. This method achieves up to 99.99\% of the correlation energy even by four orders of magnitude less determinants compared to full CI calculations and up to two orders of magnitude less than previous state of the art works. Additionally, our study demonstrate that the RBM can learn the underlying quantum properties, providing more detail insights than other methods . This innovative data-driven approach offers a promising tool for quantum chemistry, enhancing both efficiency and understanding of complex systems., Comment: Preprint to be submitted to Computer Physics Communications

The interaction between surface acoustic waves and magnetization offers an efficient route for electrically controlling magnetic states. Here, we demonstrate the excitation of magnetoacoustic waves in galfenol, a highly magnetostrictive alloy made of iron (72%) and gallium (28%). We quantify the amplitude of the induced magnetization oscillations using magnetic imaging in an X-ray photoelectron microscope and estimate the dynamic magnetoelastic constants through micromagnetic simulations. Our findings demonstrate the potential of galfenol for magnonic applications and reveal that, despite strong magnetoelastic coupling, magnetic interactions and spin-wave dispersion relations significantly influence the overall amplitude of magnetoacoustic waves., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

We present the first determination of the topological susceptibility from lattice QCD in the presence of strong background magnetic fields. Our simulations employ 2+1 flavours of stout improved staggered quarks with physical masses and cover a broad range of temperatures and magnetic field values. The results are extrapolated to the continuum limit using four different lattice spacings and an eigenvalue reweighting technique to reduce discretisation errors. For low temperatures, our calculations show an enhancement of the topological susceptibility due to the magnetic field, compatible with predictions from chiral perturbation theory. At high temperatures, we observe the impact of inverse magnetic catalysis on the susceptibility., Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures

Too many students still experience the factory model evident in most U.S. high schools, which were designed to put young people on a conveyor belt and move them from one overloaded teacher to the next, in 45-minute increments, to be stamped with separate, disconnected lessons 7 or 8 times a day. While these factory-model designs may have worked for the purposes they were asked to serve 100 years ago, they do not meet most young people's needs today. Many teachers, principals, and district leaders, along with students and parents, understand that schools must change in fundamental ways if they are to prepare today's diverse student population for higher-order thinking and deep understanding. Yet the inertia of existing systems is powerful. The good news is that models exist: A number of schools that have been extraordinarily effective and have helped other schools to replicate their success have important lessons to offer, based on the elements they hold in common. This publication outlines 10 of those lessons that constitute evidence-based features of effective redesigned high schools that help create the kind of education experience students need: safe environments where exciting and rigorous academic work occurs and where all groups of students succeed academically, graduate at high levels, and go on to college and productive work.

In-operando techniques enable real-time measurement of intricate physical properties at the micro- and nano-scale under external stimuli, allowing the study of a wide range of materials and functionalities. In nanomagnetism, in-operando techniques greatly benefit from precise three-dimensional (3D) magnetic field control, enabling access to complex magnetic states forming in systems where multiple energies are set to compete with each other. However, achieving such precision is challenging and uncommon, as specific applications impose constraints on the type and geometry of magnetic field sources, limiting their capabilities. Here, we introduce an approach that leverages machine learning algorithms to achieve precise 3D magnetic field control using a hexapole electromagnet that is composed of three independent, non-collinear dipole electromagnets. In our experimental setup, magnetic field sensors are placed at a distance from the sample position due to inherent constraints, leading to indirect field measurements that differ from the magnetic field experienced by the sample. We find that the existing relationship between the remote and sample frames of reference is non-linear, thus requiring a more complex calibration method. To address this, we employ a multi-layer perceptron neural network that processes multiple inputs from a dynamic magnetic field sequence, effectively capturing the time-dependent non-linear field response. The network achieves high calibration accuracy and demonstrates exceptional generalization to unseen magnetic field sequences. This study highlights the significant potential of machine learning in achieving high-precision control and calibration, crucial for in-operando experiments where direct measurement at the point of interest is not possible.

Indirect dark matter detection methods are used to observe the products of dark matter annihilations or decays originating from astrophysical objects where large amounts of dark matter are thought to accumulate. With neutrino telescopes, an excess of neutrinos is searched for in nearby dark matter reservoirs, such as the Sun and the Galactic Centre, which could potentially produce a sizeable flux of Standard Model particles. The KM3NeT infrastructure, currently under construction, comprises the ARCA and ORCA undersea \v{C}erenkov neutrino detectors located at two different sites in the Mediterranean Sea, offshore of Italy and France, respectively. The two detector configurations are optimised for the detection of neutrinos of different energies, enabling the search for dark matter particles with masses ranging from a few GeV/c$^2$ to hundreds of TeV/c$^2$. In this work, searches for dark matter annihilations in the Galactic Centre and the Sun with data samples taken with the first configurations of both detectors are presented. No significant excess over the expected background was found in either of the two analyses. Limits on the velocity-averaged self-annihilation cross section of dark matter particles are computed for five different primary annihilation channels in the Galactic Centre. For the Sun, limits on the spin-dependent and spin-independent scattering cross sections of dark matter with nucleons are given for three annihilation channels.

In this survey, we explore the connections between two areas of probability: percolation theory and population genetic models. Our first goal is to highlight a construction on Galton-Watson trees, which has been described in two different ways: Bernoulli bond percolation and neutral mutations. Next, we introduce a novel connection between the Divide-and-Color percolation model and a particular multi-type Galton-Watson tree. We provide a gentle introduction to these topics while presenting an overview of the results that connect them.

In this contribution, we extend the discussion about the calculation of the bulk viscosity of quark matter in the normal phase due to electroweak processes and its effect on the damping of baryon density oscillations that might occur in the coalescence of two compact stars. Employing the EoSs from the MIT bag model and perturbative quantum chromodynamics (pQCD) up to $\mathcal{O}(\alpha_s)$, we analyze our results varying densities in the range of temperatures from 0 to 10 MeV for frequencies around 1 kHz. Our estimates show that bulk viscous effects might play a relevant role during the postmerger stage if the system reaches a deconfined quark matter phase., Comment: Contribution for the conference proceedings of the "10th International Conference on Quarks and Nuclear Physics (QNP 2024)"

We compute the branching fractions of vector quarkonia ($V_Q=J/\psi, \psi', \Upsilon(nS)$) decays into neutrino pairs, considering both Dirac and Majorana types, within the Standard Model (SM) and beyond. The vector nature of quarkonium states yields a decay width in the SM that depends upon the weak vector coupling of the heavy quark, offering the possibility to measure the weak mixing angle at the quarkonia mass scales. If neutrinos have non-standard neutral weak couplings, this could help to distinguish the nature of neutrinos in principle., Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures

Hexagonal antiferromagnetic D019-Mn3X (X = Sn, Ge, Ga) compounds, with a non-collinear Kagome spin structure, are Weyl semimetals exhibiting novel topological transport properties. The longitudinal magnetoresistance of c-oriented epitaxial Ru/Mn3Ga thin films exhibits a positive quadratic dependence on magnetic field over a wide range of temperatures. Here we describe the transverse magnetoresistance, with the field in the out-of-plane direction, for c-oriented epitaxial GaN (0001)/Mn3Ga films. There is a transition from a negative linear to a positive quadratic dependence on magnetic field in the temperature range from 200 K to 300 K. The electrical resistivity shows a metallic to semiconductor transition at 230 K. By applying the electric field along two perpendicular in-plane directions we find asymmetry in the magnetoresistance curves due to self-spin polarized currents created through magnetic octupole clusters. First principles calculations confirmed the metallic to semiconductor transition corresponds to reordering the spin structure to a higher symmetry configuration., Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, to be submitted to Nano Letters

With a growing number of facilities able to monitor the entire sky and produce light curves with a cadence of days, in recent years there has been an increased rate of detection of sources whose variability deviates from standard behavior, revealing a variety of exotic nuclear transients. The aim of the present study is to disentangle the nature of the transient AT 2021hdr, whose optical light curve used to be consistent with a classic Seyfert 1 nucleus, which was also confirmed by its optical spectrum and high-energy properties. From late 2021, AT 2021hdr started to present sudden brightening episodes in the form of oscillating peaks in the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) alert stream, and the same shape is observed in X-rays and UV from Swift data. The oscillations occur every about 60-90 days with amplitudes of around 0.2 mag in the g and r bands. Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations show no radio emission at milliarcseconds scale. It is argued that these findings are inconsistent with a standard tidal disruption event (TDE), a binary supermassive black hole (BSMBH), or a changing-look active galactic nucleus (AGN); neither does this object resemble previous observed AGN flares, and disk or jet instabilities are an unlikely scenario. Here, we propose that the behavior of AT 2021hdr might be due to the tidal disruption of a gas cloud by a BSMBH. In this scenario, we estimate that the putative binary has a separation of about 0.83 mpc and would merge in about 70000 years. This galaxy is located at 9 kpc from a companion galaxy, and in this work we report this merger for the first time. The oscillations are not related to the companion galaxy., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, plus appendices. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. NASA press release available at https://science.nasa.gov/missions/swift/nasas-swift-studies-gas-churning-monster-black-holes/ doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202451305

In social sciences, researchers often face challenges when conducting large-scale experiments, particularly due to the simulations' complexity and the lack of technical expertise required to develop such frameworks. Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) is a computational approach that simulates agents' actions and interactions to evaluate how their behaviors influence the outcomes. However, the traditional implementation of ABM can be demanding and complex. Generative Agent-Based Modeling (GABM) offers a solution by enabling scholars to create simulations where AI-driven agents can generate complex behaviors based on underlying rules and interactions. This paper introduces a framework for designing reliable experiments using GABM, making sophisticated simulation techniques more accessible to researchers across various fields. We provide a step-by-step guide for selecting appropriate tools, designing the model, establishing experimentation protocols, and validating results.

Driving the nuclear fusion reaction p+11B -> 3 alpha + 8.7 MeV in laboratory conditions, by interaction between high-power laser pulses and matter, has become a popular field of research, due to numerous applications that it can potentially allow: an alternative to deuterium-tritium (DT) for fusion energy production, astrophysics studies and alpha-particle generation for medical treatments. A possible scheme for laser-driven p-11B reactions is to direct a beam of laser-accelerated protons onto a boron sample (the so-called 'pitcher-catcher' scheme). This technique was successfully implemented on large, energetic lasers, yielding hundreds of joules per shot at low repetition. We present here a complementary approach, exploiting the high-repetition rate of the VEGA III petawatt laser at CLPU (Spain), aiming at accumulating results from many interactions at much lower energy, for better controlling the parameters and the statistics of the measurements. Despite a moderate energy per pulse, our experiment allowed exploring the laser-driven fusion process with tens (up to hundreds) of laser shots. The experiment provided a clear signature of the produced reactions and of the fusion products, accumulated over many shots, leading to an improved optimization of the diagnostic for these experimental campaigns In this paper we discuss the effectiveness of the laser-driven p-11B fusion in the pitcher-catcher scheme, at high-repetition rate, addressing the challenges of this experimental scheme and highlighting its critical aspects. Our proposed methodologies allow evaluating the performance of this scheme for laser-driven alpha particle production and can be adapted to high-repetition rate laser facilities with higher energy and intensity.

BosonSampling is a popular candidate for near-term quantum advantage, which has now been experimentally implemented several times. The original proposal of Aaronson and Arkhipov from 2011 showed that classical hardness of BosonSampling is implied by a proof of the "Gaussian Permanent Estimation" conjecture. This conjecture states that $e^{-n\log{n}-n-O(\log n)}$ additive error estimates to the output probability of most random BosonSampling experiments are $\#P$-hard. Proving this conjecture has since become the central question in the theory of quantum advantage. In this work we make progress by proving that $e^{-n\log n -n - O(n^\delta)}$ additive error estimates to output probabilities of most random BosonSampling experiments are $\#P$-hard, for any $\delta>0$. In the process, we circumvent all known barrier results for proving the hardness of BosonSampling experiments. This is nearly the robustness needed to prove hardness of BosonSampling -- the remaining hurdle is now "merely" to show that the $n^\delta$ in the exponent can be improved to $O(\log n).$ We also obtain an analogous result for Random Circuit Sampling. Our result allows us to show, for the first time, a hardness of classical sampling result for random BosonSampling experiments, under an anticoncentration conjecture. Specifically, we prove the impossibility of multiplicative-error sampling from random BosonSampling experiments with probability $1-e^{-O(n)}$, unless the Polynomial Hierarchy collapses., Comment: 41 pages, 6 figures

The Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) at Vera C. Rubin Observatory is planned to begin in the Fall of 2025. The LSST survey cadence has been designed via a community-driven process regulated by the Survey Cadence Optimization Committee (SCOC), which recommended up to 3% of the observing time to carry out Target of Opportunity (ToO) observations. Experts from the scientific community, Rubin Observatory personnel, and members of the SCOC were brought together to deliver a recommendation for the implementation of the ToO program during a workshop held in March 2024. Four main science cases were identified: gravitational wave multi-messenger astronomy, high energy neutrinos, Galactic supernovae, and small potentially hazardous asteroids possible impactors. Additional science cases were identified and briefly addressed in the documents, including lensed or poorly localized gamma-ray bursts and twilight discoveries. Trigger prioritization, automated response, and detailed strategies were discussed for each science case. This document represents the outcome of the Rubin ToO 2024 workshop, with additional contributions from members of the Rubin Science Collaborations. The implementation of the selection criteria and strategies presented in this document has been endorsed in the SCOC Phase 3 Recommendations document (PSTN-056). Although the ToO program is still to be finalized, this document serves as a baseline plan for ToO observations with the Rubin Observatory.

We review lattice results related to pion, kaon, $D$-meson, $B$-meson, and nucleon physics with the aim of making them easily accessible to the nuclear and particle physics communities. More specifically, we report on the determination of the light-quark masses, the form factor $f_+(0)$ arising in the semileptonic $K \to \pi$ transition at zero momentum transfer, as well as the decay-constant ratio $f_K/f_\pi$ and its consequences for the CKM matrix elements $V_{us}$ and $V_{ud}$. We review the determination of the $B_K$ parameter of neutral kaon mixing as well as the additional four $B$ parameters that arise in theories of physics beyond the Standard Model. For the heavy-quark sector, we provide results for $m_c$ and $m_b$ as well as those for the decay constants, form factors, and mixing parameters of charmed and bottom mesons and baryons. These are the heavy-quark quantities most relevant for the determination of CKM matrix elements and the global CKM unitarity-triangle fit. We review the status of lattice determinations of the strong coupling constant $\alpha_s$. We review the determinations of nucleon charges from the matrix elements of both isovector and flavour-diagonal axial, scalar and tensor local quark bilinears, and momentum fraction, helicity moment and the transversity moment from one-link quark bilinears. We also review determinations of scale-setting quantities. Finally, in this review we have added a new section on the general definition of the low-energy limit of the Standard Model., Comment: 435 pages, 53 Figures, 190 tables. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2111.09849, arXiv:1902.08191

In the ultra-low inter-core crosstalk working zone of terrestrial multi-band and multi-core fiber (MCF) elastic optical networks (EONs), the ICXT in all channels of all cores remains below the ICXT threshold of the highest modulation format level (64QAM) for long-haul distances (10000 km). This paper analyzes the performance of this type of MCF in multi-band EONs (MB-EONs). We investigate two band and space division multiplexing (BSDM) scenarios: MCF and a bundle of multi-fiber pairs (BuMFP). Furthermore, the UL-ICXT performance of two MCFs, one with the standard cladding diameter (CD = 125 micrometers) with 4 cores and another with a nonstandard larger CD with 7 cores, is evaluated in the US backbone network. Our findings show that, with careful design of the MCFs physical structure, even with a standard CD, it is possible to achieve UL-ICXT in C, L, and S-band long-haul BSDM EONs. Additionally, the simulation results show that network throughput for BSDM EONs with MCFs in the UL-ICXT regime is up to 12 percent higher than the BuMFP scenario, with capacity increasing linearly with the number of cores.

The extension of elastic optical networks (EON) to multi-band transmission (MB-EON) shows promise in enhancing spectral efficiency, throughput, and long-term cost-effectiveness for telecom operators. However, designing MB-EON networks introduces complex challenges, notably the optimization of physical parameters like optical power and quality of transmission (QoT). Frequency-dependent characteristics of fiber, such as loss, dispersion, and nonlinear effects, alongside inter-channel stimulated Raman scattering, pose significant hurdles when extending beyond the L+C (LC) band to a continuous spectrum over 100 nm. In this study, we propose a span-by-span methodology for optimal power allocation, introducing two hyper-accelerated power optimization (HPO) strategies: flat launch power (FLP) and flat received power (FRP). These approaches significantly expedite network power optimization while preserving the stability of running services. Our comparative analysis of FLP and FRP models reveals that while FRP has a minimal effect on capacity (increasing less than 10 Tbps for an L+C+S (LCS) system over 100 km), it improves flatness and GSNR/OSNR metrics in the S-band by approximately 2/0 dB and 2.5/6 dB, respectively. A network-wide analysis across various topologies shows that the FRP technique enhances minimum GSNR, contributing to a throughput increase of 12% to 75%, depending on network scale, at a 1% bandwidth blocking rate. Lastly, our application of HPO in MB-EON for both local and global power optimization demonstrates that while both approaches offer comparable performance, global optimization is simpler and more cost-effective for large-scale networks.

Young people are major consumers of Augmented Reality (AR) tools like Pok\'emon GO, but they rarely engage in creating these experiences. Creating with technology gives young people a platform for expressing themselves and making social connections. However, we do not know what young people want to create with AR, as existing AR authoring tools are largely designed for adults. To investigate the requirements for an AR authoring tool, we ran eight design workshops with 17 young people in Argentina and the United States that centered on young people's perspectives and experiences. We identified four ways in which young people want to create with} AR, and contribute the following design implications for designers of AR authoring tools for young people: (1) Blending imagination into AR scenarios to preserve narratives, (2) Making traces of actions visible to foster social presence, (3) Exploring how AR artifacts can serve as invitations to connect with others, and (4) Leveraging information asymmetry to encourage learning about the physical world., Comment: CSCW

In this work we investigate the effects of the environment on the evolution of void galaxies. In particular, we study their morphology and explore its dependence with their location within the void where the galaxies reside, as well as with properties of the void, such as void size or galaxy number-density. The sample of void galaxies that we use in this study is based on the catalogue of cosmic voids and void galaxies in the SDSS-DR7. Since we are interested into study the morphology of void galaxies, we select galaxies in the redshift range 0.005$\leq$z$\leq$0.080, and use the public galaxy morphologies for SDSS with Deep Learning algorithms to divide the sample between early- and late-type void galaxies. We analyse the fraction of galaxies of each morphology type as a function of the void-centric distance, the size of the voids, and the density of galaxies in each void. There is a higher abundance of late-type galaxies with respect to early-type galaxies within voids, which remains nearly constant from the inner to the outer part of the voids. We do not find any dependence of the fraction of early- and late-type galaxies with respect to the size of the voids or the number-density of galaxies in the voids. Galaxies in voids follow the morphology-density relation, in the sense that the majority of the galaxies in voids (the most under-dense large-scale environments) are late-type galaxies. However, we find no difference between voids with lower or higher volume number-density of galaxies: the fraction of early- and late-type galaxies do not depend on the density of the voids. The physical processes responsible for the evolution from late towards earlier types (such as external environmental quenching) are not sufficiently effective in voids or so slow (internal secular quenching) that their contributions do not appear in the morphology-density relation., Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

We describe an experiment demonstrating the generation of three independent square-ladder continuous-variable cluster states with up to 94 qumodes of a microwave frequency comb. This entanglement structure at a large scale is realized by injecting vacuum fluctuations into a Josephson Parametric Amplifier pumped by three coherent signals around twice its resonance frequency, each having a particular well-defined phase relation. We reach up to 1.4 dB of squeezing of the nullifier which verifies the cluster state on the square ladder graph. Our results are consistent with a more familiar measure of two-mode squeezing, where we find up to 5.42 dB for one pump, and up to 1 dB for three pumps., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures (main article) and 7 pages, 6 figures (suppl. material)

Background: Breast density, as derived from mammographic images and defined by the American College of Radiology's Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS), is one of the strongest risk factors for breast cancer. Breast ultrasound (BUS) is an alternative breast cancer screening modality, particularly useful for early detection in low-resource, rural contexts. The purpose of this study was to explore an artificial intelligence (AI) model to predict BI-RADS mammographic breast density category from clinical, handheld BUS imaging. Methods: All data are sourced from the Hawaii and Pacific Islands Mammography Registry. We compared deep learning methods from BUS imaging, as well as machine learning models from image statistics alone. The use of AI-derived BUS density as a risk factor for breast cancer was then compared to clinical BI-RADS breast density while adjusting for age. The BUS data were split by individual into 70/20/10% groups for training, validation, and testing. Results: 405,120 clinical BUS images from 14.066 women were selected for inclusion in this study, resulting in 9.846 women for training (302,574 images), 2,813 for validation (11,223 images), and 1,406 for testing (4,042 images). On the held-out testing set, the strongest AI model achieves AUROC 0.854 predicting BI-RADS mammographic breast density from BUS imaging and outperforms all shallow machine learning methods based on image statistics. In cancer risk prediction, age-adjusted AI BUS breast density predicted 5-year breast cancer risk with 0.633 AUROC, as compared to 0.637 AUROC from age-adjusted clinical breast density. Conclusions: BI-RADS mammographic breast density can be estimated from BUS imaging with high accuracy using a deep learning model. Furthermore, we demonstrate that AI-derived BUS breast density is predictive of 5-year breast cancer risk in our population.

We measure the time-integrated CP asymmetry in $D^{0} \rightarrow K^{0}_{S}K^{0}_{S}$ decays reconstructed in $e^{+}e^{-} \rightarrow c\overline{c}$ events collected by the Belle and Belle II experiments. The corresponding data samples have integrated luminosities of 980 fb$^{-1}$ and 428 fb$^{-1}$, respectively. The $D^{0}$ decays are required to originate from the $D^{*+} \rightarrow D^{0}\pi^{+}$ decay, which determines the charm flavor at production time. A control sample of $D^{0} \rightarrow K^{+}K^{-}$ decays is used to correct for production and detection asymmetries. The result, $(-1.4\pm1.3{\rm(stat)}\pm0.1{\rm (syst)})\%$, is consistent with previous determinations and with CP symmetry., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2410.22961

The KM3NeT Collaboration has tackled a common challenge faced by the astroparticle physics community, namely adapting the experiment-specific simulation software to work with the CORSIKA air shower simulation output. The proposed solution is an extension of the open-source code gSeaGen, allowing for the transport of muons generated by CORSIKA to a detector of any size at an arbitrary depth. The gSeaGen code was not only extended in terms of functionalities but also underwent a thorough redesign of the muon propagation routine, resulting in a more accurate and efficient simulation. This paper presents the capabilities of the new gSeaGen code as well as prospects for further developments., Comment: 27 pages, 13 figures

The feasibility of variational quantum algorithms, the most popular correspondent of neural networks on noisy, near-term quantum hardware, is highly impacted by the circuit depth of the involved parametrized quantum circuits (PQCs). Higher depth increases expressivity, but also results in a detrimental accumulation of errors. Furthermore, the number of parameters involved in the PQC significantly influences the performance through the necessary number of measurements to evaluate gradients, which scales linearly with the number of parameters. Motivated by this, we look at deep equilibrium models (DEQs), which mimic an infinite-depth, weight-tied network using a fraction of the memory by employing a root solver to find the fixed points of the network. In this work, we present Quantum Deep Equilibrium Models (QDEQs): a training paradigm that learns parameters of a quantum machine learning model given by a PQC using DEQs. To our knowledge, no work has yet explored the application of DEQs to QML models. We apply QDEQs to find the parameters of a quantum circuit in two settings: the first involves classifying MNIST-4 digits with 4 qubits; the second extends it to 10 classes of MNIST, FashionMNIST and CIFAR. We find that QDEQ is not only competitive with comparable existing baseline models, but also achieves higher performance than a network with 5 times more layers. This demonstrates that the QDEQ paradigm can be used to develop significantly more shallow quantum circuits for a given task, something which is essential for the utility of near-term quantum computers. Our code is available at https://github.com/martaskrt/qdeq., Comment: To be published in NeurIPS 2024

We present a detailed survey of electric, magnetic and quadrupole form factors of light and heavy spin-1 vector mesons. It complements our analogous analysis of the electromagnetic form factors of pseudoscalar and scalar mesons reported earlier. Our formalism is based upon the Schwinger-Dyson equations treatment of a vector $\times$ vector contact interaction and the Bethe-Salpeter equation description of relativistic two-body bound states. We compute the form factors, associated moments and charge radii, comparing these quantities to earlier theoretical studies and experimental results if and when possible. We also investigate the quark-mass dependence of the charge radii and find the anticipated hierarchy such that it decreases with increasing dressed quark masses. In addition, our analysis shows that the magnetic moment is independent of the mass of the light and heavy mesons. Our results agree with most measurements reported earlier, finding a negative quadrupole moment, implying the charge distribution is oblate., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2301.11881

\textbf{Trial design} Crossover randomized controlled trial. \textbf{Methods} An AI tool, Easy-ICD, was developed to assist clinical coders and was tested for improving both accuracy and time in a user study in Norway and Sweden. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups, and crossed over between coding complex (longer) texts versus simple (shorter) texts, while using our tool versus not using our tool. \textbf{Results} Based on Mann-Whitney U test, the median coding time difference for complex clinical text sequences was 123 seconds (\emph{P}\textless.001, 95\% CI: 81 to 164), representing a 46\% reduction in median coding time when our tool is used. There was no significant time difference for simpler text sequences. For coding accuracy, the improvement we noted for both complex and simple texts was not significant. \textbf{Conclusions} This study demonstrates the potential of AI to transform common tasks in clinical workflows, with ostensible positive impacts on work efficiencies for complex clinical coding tasks. Further studies within hospital workflows are required before these presumed impacts can be more clearly understood., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables

We perform a model-independent measurement of the $D^0$-$\overline{D}{}^0$ mixing parameters using samples of $e^+e^-$-collision data collected by the Belle and Belle II experiments that have integrated luminosities of $951\ \text{fb}^{-1}$ and $408\ \text{fb}^{-1}$, respectively. Approximately $2.05\times10^6$ neutral $D$ mesons are reconstructed in the $D^0\rightarrow K^0_{S}\pi^+\pi^-$ channel, with the neutral $D$ flavor tagged by the charge of the pion in the $D^{*+}\rightarrow D^0\pi^+$ decay. Assuming charge-parity symmetry, the mixing parameters are measured to be $ x = (4.0\pm1.7\pm0.4)\times 10^{-3} $ and $ y = (2.9\pm1.4\pm0.3)\times 10^{-3}$, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The results are consistent with previous determinations.

In this paper, we address the exponential stabilization of the linearized FitzHugh-Nagumo system using an event-triggered boundary control strategy. Employing the backstepping method, we derive a feedback control law that updates based on specific triggering rules while ensuring the exponential stability of the closed-loop system. We establish the well-posedness of the system and analyze its input-to-state stability in relation to the deviations introduced by the event-triggered control. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach, showing that it stabilizes the system with fewer control updates compared to continuous feedback strategies while maintaining similar stabilization performance.

Atoms within moir\'e bilayers relax in-plane to minimize elastic energy [e.g., Cazeaux et al., J. Elast. 154, 443 (2023)]; such relaxation brings their space group symmetries down to P1. Here, the ab initio second harmonic generation (SHG) of twisted and atomistically optimized hBN bilayers was determined at four twist angles ($\theta=38.21^{\circ}$, $60.00^{\circ}$, $73.17^{\circ}$, and $98.21^{\circ}$) and for three displacements $\boldsymbol{\tau}$ measured away from the ground state $AA^{\prime}$ configuration. All moir\'e bilayers have a P1 space symmetry after structural optimization. This situation is quite different to monolayers with hexagonal lattices, which retain a three-fold symmetry. We point out that the actual symmetries of the SHG reported for hBN bilayers on two experimental works do not coincide with the sixfold symmetric theoretical profiles they provide [either $\sin^2(3\phi)$ or $\cos^2(3\phi)$], and show that the intrinsic low structural symmetry of (atomically optimized) hBN bilayer moir\'es can in fact be read out from experimental SHG intensity profiles--which are tunable by $\theta$ and by the frequency of light $\omega$: The SHG is most definitely not sixfold-symmetric because moir\'es do not retain a three-fold symmetry. Furthermore, an extrinsic twofold symmetry of the SHG emission is realized by tilting the pump by an angle $\alpha$ away from the 2D material's normal, regardless of $\theta$ and $\omega$. The design of in-plane and ultrathin sources of SHG with low symmetry could be useful for the eventual creation of entanglement sources from 2D materials., Comment: Accepted at Physical Review Materials on October 29, 2024

Predicting answers to queries over knowledge graphs is called a complex reasoning task because answering a query requires subdividing it into subqueries. Existing query embedding methods use this decomposition to compute the embedding of a query as the combination of the embedding of the subqueries. This requirement limits the answerable queries to queries having a single free variable and being decomposable, which are called tree-form queries and correspond to the $\mathcal{SROI}^-$ description logic. In this paper, we define a more general set of queries, called DAG queries and formulated in the $\mathcal{ALCOIR}$ description logic, propose a query embedding method for them, called DAGE, and a new benchmark to evaluate query embeddings on them. Given the computational graph of a DAG query, DAGE combines the possibly multiple paths between two nodes into a single path with a trainable operator that represents the intersection of relations and learns DAG-DL from tautologies. We show that it is possible to implement DAGE on top of existing query embedding methods, and we empirically measure the improvement of our method over the results of vanilla methods evaluated in tree-form queries that approximate the DAG queries of our proposed benchmark.

Multivariate spatial disease mapping has become a pivotal part of everyday practice in social epidemiology. Despite the existence of several specifications for the relation between different outcomes, there is still a need for a new strategy that focuses on comparing the spatial risk patterns of different subgroups of the population. This paper introduces a new approach for detecting differences in spatial risk patterns between different populations at risk, using suicide-related emergency calls to study suicide risks in the Valencian Community (Spain).

Measurements of the response function of the PIENU NaI(T$\ell$) and CsI crystal calorimeter using a monochromatic 70 MeV/c positron beam at various incidence angles are described. The experimental setup and relevant physical processes involved were simulated using Geant4 to reproduce positron energy spectra. Monte Carlo simulations were compared with experimental data across ten calorimeter-beam angles and showed good agreement. This allowed the validation of simulation parameters that were essential for precise measurements of pion decays., Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures

Communication traits in text-based human-AI conversations play pivotal roles in shaping user experiences and perceptions of systems. With the advancement of large language models (LLMs), it is now feasible to analyze these traits at a more granular level. In this study, we explore the preferences of information workers regarding chatbot communication traits across seven applications. Participants were invited to participate in an interactive survey, which featured adjustable sliders, allowing them to adjust and express their preferences for five key communication traits: formality, personification, empathy, sociability, and humor. Our findings reveal distinct communication preferences across different applications; for instance, there was a preference for relatively high empathy in wellbeing contexts and relatively low personification in coding. Similarities in preferences were also noted between applications such as chatbots for customer service and scheduling. These insights offer crucial design guidelines for future chatbots, emphasizing the need for nuanced trait adjustments for each application.

In this talk, we discuss the phenomenology of radiative 3-loop seesaw models. The 3-loop suppression allows the new particles to have masses at the TeV scale, along with relatively large Yukawa couplings, while retaining consistency with neutrino masses and mixing, as observed in neutrino oscillation experiments. This leads to a rich phenomenology, especially in searches for charged lepton flavor violation, where the models predict sizable rates, well within future experimental reach. The models provide viable fermionic or scalar dark matter candidates, as is typical within the scotogenic paradigm. We discuss specific realizations in which the W-mass anomaly and the baryon asymmetry of the Universe can be accommodated, while complying with current constraints imposed by electroweak precision observables, charged-lepton flavor violation and neutrinoless double-beta decay., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Talk given at the 42nd International Conference on High Energy Physics - ICHEP2024 (18-24 July 2024, Prague, Czech Republic)

Robots hold great promise for performing repetitive or hazardous tasks, but achieving human-like dexterity, especially in contact-rich and dynamic environments, remains challenging. Rigid robots, which rely on position or velocity control, often struggle with maintaining stable contact and applying consistent force in force-intensive tasks. Learning from Demonstration has emerged as a solution, but tasks requiring intricate maneuvers, such as powder grinding, present unique difficulties. This paper introduces Diffusion Policies For Compliant Manipulation (DIPCOM), a novel diffusion-based framework designed for compliant control tasks. By leveraging generative diffusion models, we develop a policy that predicts Cartesian end-effector poses and adjusts arm stiffness to maintain the necessary force. Our approach enhances force control through multimodal distribution modeling, improves the integration of diffusion policies in compliance control, and extends our previous work by demonstrating its effectiveness in real-world tasks. We present a detailed comparison between our framework and existing methods, highlighting the advantages and best practices for deploying diffusion-based compliance control.

We uncover the thermodynamical properties of a class of non-asymptotically flat geometries, referred here as the Kerr effective geometries, that realize the hidden symmetries of Kerr black hole spacetimes via Teukolsky's equation in the theory of linear gravitational perturbations. While the thermodynamic properties, such as entropy, remain the same as those of Kerr black holes, the asymptotic charges, as we will demonstrate, are different. In this new framework with the ambient flat asymptotic boundary removed, we derive the mass and angular momentum of the Kerr effective geometries using the regulated Komar integral and the Brown-York prescription. We also obtain explicit expressions for the corresponding gauge potentials and electric charges. By deriving the asymptotic charges, we demonstrate that both the first law of black hole mechanics and the Smarr law hold., Comment: 6 pages

Anisotropy of local pressure distribution and dissipation are essential in understanding the evolution of the internal structure of compact objects and their observable characteristics. In this work, we reinterpret local pressure anisotropy in relativistic stellar structures as a contribution to the energy density. This approach allows the modelling of any anisotropic equation of state in self-gravitating systems by treating anisotropy as a contribution. We demonstrate that this approach provides more realistic stellar models that meet essential physical criteria, such as mass-radius relationships and stability conditions. The results are compared to observational data, particularly the inferred compactness values for pulsars PSR J0740+6620 and PSR J0030+0451, showing that anisotropic and isotropic models can represent these objects. We further explore how dissipation, such as temperature gradients, influences radial pressure and show that it can be modelled similarly to anisotropy., Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures

In this paper, we study the effects of vorticity on the QCD phase transition using the Linear Sigma Model coupled to quarks. By going beyond the mean-field approximation and incorporating screening effects via ring diagrams, we explore the chiral symmetry restoration in extreme conditions, such as high temperatures, high densities, and large angular velocities. Our analysis reveals how the critical temperature decreases as the angular velocity increases, suggesting that vorticity catalyzes the symmetry restoration. Additionally, we observe a shift in the Critical End Point (CEP) in the effective QCD phase diagram, where higher angular velocities move the CEP to lower quark chemical potentials and higher temperatures. Moreover, we analyze the baryon number fluctuations through the normalized fourth moment $\kappa \sigma^2 = c_4/c_2$ as a function of the collision energy in heavy-ion reactions $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$, which serves as a key observable to identify the CEP. Our study reveals that for high collision energies, $\kappa \sigma^2$ remains nearly constant; however, as the system approaches the CEP, the ratio increases sharply, indicating the proximity of the critical region. This rise is influenced by the presence of vorticity, which causes the CEP to shift to higher collision energies. These findings provide insight into the role of vorticity in heavy-ion collisions, Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures

We report time and band-resolved scintillation from $\alpha$-particles in Ar/CF$_4$ mixtures at a pressure of 9.5 bar. Our results show that %-level addition of CF$_4$ enables strong wavelength-shifted scintillation in the visible range, with yields at the level of 1000 ph/MeV, scintillation decay times of 9-25 ns and formation times well below 10 ns. Such a performance is a priori sufficient for accurate time-tagging of MeV-particles, without the need to resort to a pure noble gas, thus opening an appealing technological path for next-generation time projection chambers.

We experimentally demonstrate the joint optimization of transmitter and receiver parameters in directly modulated laser systems, showing superior performance compared to nonlinear receiver-only equalization while using fewer memory taps, less bandwidth, and lower radiofrequency power., Comment: submitted to the Optical Fiber Conference (OFC)

The XLZD collaboration is developing a two-phase xenon time projection chamber with an active mass of 60 to 80 t capable of probing the remaining WIMP-nucleon interaction parameter space down to the so-called neutrino fog. In this work we show that, based on the performance of currently operating detectors using the same technology and a realistic reduction of radioactivity in detector materials, such an experiment will also be able to competitively search for neutrinoless double beta decay in $^{136}$Xe using a natural-abundance xenon target. XLZD can reach a 3$\sigma$ discovery potential half-life of 5.7$\times$10$^{27}$ yr (and a 90% CL exclusion of 1.3$\times$10$^{28}$ yr) with 10 years of data taking, corresponding to a Majorana mass range of 7.3-31.3 meV (4.8-20.5 meV). XLZD will thus exclude the inverted neutrino mass ordering parameter space and will start to probe the normal ordering region for most of the nuclear matrix elements commonly considered by the community., Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures

Concerning recent published studies exploring the presence or otherwise of a gravitational anomaly at low accelerations in wide binary stars as observed by the {\it Gaia} satellite, Cookson (2024) presents an interesting case. In that study, RMS values of binned relative internal velocities in 1D for wide binaries are compared to Newtonian predictions for that quantity, with the author concluding that the data presented show no indication of any inconsistency with Newtonian expectations. However, the comparison presented is critically flawed, as the Newtonian predictions used refer to wide binaries with mean total masses of 2.0 $M_{\odot}$. This is larger than the 1.56 $M_{\odot}$ value which applies to the data used in said paper. In this short note we correct the error mentioned above and show that the data and error bars as given in Cookson (2024) are in fact inconsistent with Newtonian expectations. Contrary to the assertion by Cookson, the data presented in Cookson (2024) actually show a clear anomaly in the low acceleration gravitational regime, this being consistent with a number of independent studies yielding this same result. Based on the analysis by Cookson (2024), wide binary systems show a clear Milgromian deviation from Newtonian dynamics., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure

This report describes the experimental strategy and technologies for a next-generation xenon observatory sensitive to dark matter and neutrino physics. The detector will have an active liquid xenon target mass of 60-80 tonnes and is proposed by the XENON-LUX-ZEPLIN-DARWIN (XLZD) collaboration. The design is based on the mature liquid xenon time projection chamber technology of the current-generation experiments, LZ and XENONnT. A baseline design and opportunities for further optimization of the individual detector components are discussed. The experiment envisaged here has the capability to explore parameter space for Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) dark matter down to the neutrino fog, with a 3$\sigma$ evidence potential for the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross sections as low as $3\times10^{-49}\rm cm^2$ (at 40 GeV/c$^2$ WIMP mass). The observatory is also projected to have a 3$\sigma$ observation potential of neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{136}$Xe at a half-life of up to $5.7\times 10^{27}$ years. Additionally, it is sensitive to astrophysical neutrinos from the atmosphere, sun, and galactic supernovae., Comment: 32 pages, 14 figures