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We establish two complementary results about the regularity of the solution of the periodic initial value problem for the linear Benjamin-Ono equation. We first give a new simple proof of the statement that, for a dense countable set of the time variable, the solution is a finite linear combination of copies of the initial condition and of its Hilbert transform. In particular, this implies that discontinuities in the initial condition are propagated in the solution as logarithmic cusps. We then show that, if the initial condition is of bounded variation (and even if it is not continuous), for almost every time the graph of the solution in space is continuous but fractal, with upper Minkowski dimension equal to 3/2. In order to illustrate this striking dichotomy, in the final section we include accurate numerical evaluations of the solution profile, as well as estimates of its box-counting dimension for two canonical choices of irrational time., Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures

G-structure techniques are used to construct broad classes of circle compactifications of Mink$_{D+1}$ solutions to Mink$_{D}$ embedded into type II supergravity for $D=1,...5$. Under a certain assumptions we show that the conditions that imply supersymmetry for Mink$_{D+1}$ imply those of the Mink$_{D}$ solution, but that Bianchi identities of the fluxes must be modified. This realises an off shell solution generating technique for supersymmetric solutions or a "supersymmetry generating" technique. Along the way it is necessary for us to derive G structure conditions for general ${\cal N}=(1,0)$ supersymmetric Mink$_2$ solutions and a restricted class of Mink$_1$ solutions. We apply our results to construct some simple Minkowski flux vacua before turning our attention to "solitonic branes" which are generalisations of the AdS soliton. We are able to generalise known examples in two ways: 1) to embed them in terms of generic Sasaki Einstein manifolds. 2) To modify the harmonic factor to include D$p$ brane sources at one end of the space., Comment: 37 pages plus appendices

Yule's 1925 paper introducing the branching model that bears his name was a landmark contribution to the biodiversity sciences. In his paper, Yule developed stochastic models to explain the observed distribution of species across genera and to test hypotheses about the relationship between clade age, diversity, and geographic range. Here we discuss the intellectual context in which Yule produced this work, highlight Yule's key mathematical and conceptual contributions using both his and more modern derivations, and critically examine some of the assumptions of his work through a modern lens. We then document the strange trajectory of his work through the history of macroevolutionary thought and discuss how the fundamental challenges he grappled with -- such as defining higher taxa, linking microevolutionary population dynamics to macroevolutionary rates, and accounting for inconsistent taxonomic practices -- remain with us a century later., Comment: 27 pages, 0 figures

We explore two constructions of oligomorphic Jordan permutation groups preserving a `limit of betweenness relations' and a `limit of $D$-relations', from \cite{bhattmacph2006jordan} and \cite{almazaydeh2021jordan} respectively. Several issues left open in \cite{almazaydeh2021jordan} are resolved. In particular it is shown that the `limit of $D$-relations' is not homogeneous in the given language, but is `homogenizable', that is, there is a homogeneous structure over a finite relational language with the same universe and the same automorphism group. The structure is NIP, but not monadically NIP, its age is not well-quasi-ordered under embeddability, and the growth rate of the sequence enumerating orbits on $k$-sets grows faster than exponentially. The automorphism group is maximal-closed in the symmetric group. Similar results are shown for the construction in \cite{bhattmacph2006jordan}., Comment: 21 pages

We construct a 2-functor from the Kac-Moody 2-category for the extended quantum affine sl(3) to the homotopy 2-category of bounded chain complexes with values in the Kac-Moody 2-category for quantum gl(3), categorifying the evaluation map between the corresponding quantum Kac-Moody algebras., Comment: 32 pages, lots of figures, comments welcome. V2: Corrected a set of sign errors and accordingly slightly altered main proof

We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for AdS$_3$ solutions of $d=11$ supergravity to preserve ${\cal N}=(1,1)$ supersymmetry in terms of G-structures. Such solutions necessarily support an SU(3)-structure on the internal 8-manifold M$_8$, in terms of which we phrase the conditions for supersymmetry preservation. We use this to derive the local form of all ${\cal N}=(4,4)$ supersymmetric AdS$_3$ solutions in $d=11$, for which M$_8$ decomposes as a foliation of a 3-sphere over a 5 dimensional base. There are 3 independent classes, 2 of which preserve the small superconformal algebra and one preserving its large counterpart for which M$_5$ contains a second 3-sphere. We show that for each solution with large (4,4) supersymmetry there are two corresponding solutions with small $(4,4)$, one for which M$_5$ maintains its 3-sphere, one where this blows up to $\mathbb{R}^3$ which can be compactified to $\mathbb{T}^3$. We use our results to construct several new solutions that lie within our derived classes as well as recovering some existing solutions., Comment: 36 pages+ appendices. v2: Minor corrections, new solutions and references added

We develop a general framework (multidimensional asymptotic classes, or m.a.c.s) for handling classes of finite first order structures with a strong uniformity condition on cardinalities of definable sets: The condition asserts that definable families given by a formula \phi(x,y) should take on a fixed number n_\phi of approximate sizes in any M in the class, with those sizes varying with M. The prototype is the class of all finite fields, where the uniformity is given by a theorem of Chatzidakis, van den Dries and Macintyre. It inspired the development of asymptotic classes of finite structures, which this new framework extends. The underlying theory of m.a.c.s is developed, including preservation under bi-interpretability, and a proof that for the m.a.c. condition to hold it suffices to consider formulas \phi(x,y) with x a single variable. Many examples of m.a.c.s are given, including 2-sorted structures (F,V) where V is a vector space over a finite field F possibly equipped with a bilinear form, and an example arising from representations of quivers of finite representation type. We also give examples and structural results for multidimensional exact classes (m.e.c.s), where the definable sets take a fixed number of precisely specified cardinalities, which again vary with M. We also develop a notion of infinite generalised measurable structure, whereby definable sets are assigned values in an ordered semiring. We show that any infinite ultraproduct of a m.a.c. is generalised measurable, that values can be taken in an ordered ring if the m.a.c. is a m.e.c., and explore model-theoretic consequences of generalised measurability. Such a structure cannot have the strict order property, and stability-theoretic properties can be read off from the measures in the semiring., Comment: 76 pages

We study the class of $\text{AdS}_3\times \mathbb{CP}^3$ solutions to massive Type IIA supergravity with $\mathfrak{osp}(6|2)$ superconformal algebra recently constructed in arXiv:2304.12207 [hep-th]. These solutions are foliations over an interval preserving $\mathcal{N}=(0,6)$ supersymmetry in two dimensions, that in the massless limit can be mapped to the $\text{AdS}_4\times \mathbb{CP}^3$ solution of ABJM/ABJ. We show that in the massive case extra NS5-D8 branes, that we interpret as $\frac{1}{2}$-BPS surface defect branes within the ABJ theory, backreact in the geometry and turn one of the 3d field theory directions onto an energy scale, generating a flow towards a 2d CFT. We construct explicit quiver field theories that we propose flow in the IR to the $(0,6)$ SCFTs dual to the solutions. Finally, we show that the $\text{AdS}_3$ solutions realise geometrically, in terms of large gauge transformations, an extension to the massive case of Seiberg duality in ABJ theories proposed in the literature., Comment: 35 pages, 7 figures. v2: Improved figures and minor corrections

As global governments intensify efforts to operationalize retail central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the imperative for architectures that preserve user privacy has never been more pronounced. This paper advances an existing retail CBDC framework developed at University College London. Utilizing the capabilities of the Comet research framework, our proposed design allows users to retain direct custody of their assets without the need for intermediary service providers, all while preserving transactional anonymity. The study unveils a novel technique to expedite the retrieval of Proof of Provenance, significantly accelerating the verification of transaction legitimacy through the refinement of Merkle Trie structures. In parallel, we introduce a streamlined Digital Ledger designed to offer fast, immutable, and decentralized transaction validation within a permissioned ecosystem. The ultimate objective of this research is to benchmark the performance of the legacy system formulated by the original Comet research team against the newly devised system elucidated in this paper. Our endeavour is to establish a foundational design for a scalable national infrastructure proficient in seamlessly processing thousands of transactions in real-time, without compromising consumer privacy or data integrity., Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures

Measurements of the cosmic redshift drift - the change in redshift of a source over time - will enable independent detection of cosmological expansion thanks to the immense precision soon reached by new facilities such as the Square Kilometer Array Observatory and the Extremely Large Telescope. We conduct the first ever redshift drift computation in fully relativistic cosmological simulations, with the simulations performed with the Einstein Toolkit. We compute the redshift drift over the full skies of 50 synthetic observers in the simulation. We compare all-sky averages for each observer - and across all observers - to the Einstein-de Sitter (EdS) model which represents the large-scale spatially-averaged spacetime of the simulation. We find that at $z\approx0.2$ the mean redshift drift across the sky for all observers deviates from the EdS prediction at the percent level, reducing to $\sim0.1\%$ by $z\approx 1$. However, fluctuations in the redshift drift across the sky are $\sim 10-30\%$ at $z\approx 0.1$ and a few percent at $z\approx 0.5$. Such fluctuations are large enough to potentially exceed the expected precision of upcoming redshift drift measurements. Additionally, we find that along 0.48% of the light rays the redshift drift becomes temporarily positive at very low redshift of $z\lesssim 0.02$. This occurs despite our simulation data being based on a matter-dominated model universe. By including a cosmological constant, we expect a slower growth of structures than in the leading-order EdS space-time, and this may reduce the anisotropy over the observers' skies, although we generally expect our results to hold as order-of-magnitude estimates. Redshift drift is arguably one of the most important measurements to be made by next-generation telescopes. Our results collectively serve as preparation for interpreting such a measurement in the presence of realistic cosmic structures., Comment: 15 pages including appendixes and bibliography. 11 captioned figures. v2: Minor additions to match version accepted for publication

We explore the interplay between omega-categoricity and pseudofiniteness for groups, conjecturing that omega-categorical pseudofinite groups are finite-by-abelian-by-finite. We show that the conjecture reduces to nilpotent p-groups of class 2, and give a proof that several of the known examples of omega-categorical p-groups satisfy the conjecture. In particular, we show by a direct counting argument that for any odd prime p the (omega-categorical) model companion of the theory of nilpotent class 2 exponent p groups, constructed by Saracino and Wood, is not pseudofinite, and that an omega-categorical group constructed by Baudisch with supersimple rank 1 theory is not pseudofinite. We also survey some scattered literature on omega-categorical groups over 50 years., Comment: 13 pages

We apply and extend standard tools for void statistics to cosmological simulations that solve Einstein's equations with numerical relativity (NR). We obtain a simulated void catalogue without Newtonian approximations, using a new watershed void finder which operates on fluid-based NR simulations produced with the Einstein Toolkit. We compare and contrast measures of void size and void fraction, and compare radial stacked density profiles to empirically-derived Hamaus-Sutter-Wandelt (HSW) density profiles and profiles based on distance to void boundaries. We recover statistics roughly consistent with Newtonian N-body simulations where such a comparison is meaningful. We study variation of dynamical spatial curvature and local expansion explicitly demonstrating the spatial fluctuations of these quantities in void regions. We find that voids in our simulations expand ~10-30% faster than the global average and the spatial curvature density parameter in the centre of voids reaches ~60-80%., Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures; v2: Clarifications and references added, matches published version in MNRAS

We study marginal deformations of ${\cal N}=2$, $d=4$ long linear quiver CFTs using the holographic description. We find a two-parameter family of AdS$_5$ solutions that generically break all of supersymmetry, but preserve ${\cal N}=1$ for a particular tuning of the parameters. We study the G-structure of the ${\cal N}=2$ "parent" and the ${\cal N}=1$ backgrounds and carefully discuss the quantisation of charges in all cases. For the ${\cal N}=1$ and ${\cal N}=0$ cases, a picture emerges with "branes" back-reacted on either a spindle or its higher dimensional analogue. Comments on the marginally deformed dual CFTs are given, together with the study of some observables., Comment: 37 pages and various appendices. Comments and references added. Final version published in JHEP

Anisotropies in the distance-redshift relation of cosmological sources are expected due to large-scale inhomogeneities in the local Universe. When the observed sources are tracing a large-scale matter flow in a general spacetime geometry, the distance-redshift relation with its anisotropies can be described with a geometrical prediction that generalises the well-known Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker result. Furthermore, it turns out that a finite set of multipole coefficients contain the full information about a finite-order truncation of the distance-redshift relation of a given observer. The multipoles of the distance-redshift relation are interesting new cosmological observables that have a direct physical interpretation in terms of kinematical quantities of the underlying matter flow. Using light cones extracted from $N$-body simulations we quantify the anisotropies expected in a $\Lambda$ cold dark matter cosmology by running a Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis on the observed data. In this observational approach the survey selection implements an implicit smoothing scale over which the effective rest frame of matter is fitted. The perceived anisotropy therefore depends significantly on the redshift range and distribution of sources. We find that the multipoles of the expansion rate, as well as the observer's velocity with respect to the large-scale matter flow, can be determined robustly with our approach., Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures; v2: minor revision, accepted version

We study the impact of nearby inhomogeneities on an observer's inference of the Hubble constant. Large-scale structures induce a dependence of cosmological parameters on observer position as well as an anisotropic variance of those parameters across an observer's sky. While the former has been explored quite thoroughly, the latter has not. Incomplete sampling of an anisotropic sky could introduce a bias in our cosmological inference if we assume an isotropic expansion law. In this work, we use numerical relativity simulations of large-scale structure combined with ray tracing to produce synthetic catalogs mimicking the low-redshift Pantheon supernova dataset. Our data contains all general-relativistic contributions to fluctuations in the distances and redshifts along geodesics in the simulation. We use these synthetic observations to constrain $H_0$ for a set of randomly-positioned observers. We study both the dependence on observer position as well as the impact of rotating the sample of supernovae on the observer's sky. We find a 1--2\% variance in $H_0$ between observers when they use an isotropic sample of objects. However, we find the inferred value of $H_0$ can vary by up to 4--6\% when observers simply rotate their Pantheon data set on the sky. While the variances we find are below the level of the ``Hubble tension'', our results may suggest a reduction in the significance of the tension if anisotropy of expansion can be correctly accounted for., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, prepared for submission to ApJ, comments welcome

In response to numerous reports from students across Europe expressing concerns about acute housing conditions, the European Students' Union (ESU) and the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) launched a snap survey in early November 2022. The findings of the survey seek to provide Higher Education Institutions and policymakers with an evidence-based assessment of the existing challenges and lay the foundation for new initiatives to address them together with the students. The survey, which got almost 9000 answers in around 1 month, shows that a quarter (25%) of respondents experienced scams, proving the need for better support measures in this area. Lack of information about housing conditions (41%) and excessive deposit payments of more than 1 month (49%) are the most prevalent issues reported by students. The report shows clear differences among countries in almost all parameters. As an example, more than 38% of students going to Italy suffered scams, while only 10% of students going to Finland did. The success of this data collection effort can be attributed to the support and collaboration of Higher Education Institutions, Erasmus+ National Agencies, student organisations, and other key stakeholders such as University networks. Their collective dedication and participation allowed for a comprehensive understanding of the housing conditions faced by exchange students. The release of this research report marks a significant milestone in the ongoing efforts of ESU and ESN to advocate for the rights and well-being of exchange students in Europe. By leveraging the comprehensive data collected from across Europe, the organisations aim to drive meaningful change, empower students, and create a more inclusive and supportive educational environment. [Contributors to this report include Sara Tagliabracci, Lina Mohoric, Pedro Gonzalez, and Rita Dias. This report was co-produced by Erasmus Student Network.]