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We present the long-term photometric and spectroscopic monitoring campaign of a transitioning SN~IIn/Ibn from $-$10.8 d to 150.7 d post $V$-band maximum. SN~2021foa shows prominent He i lines comparable in strength to the H$\alpha$ line around peak luminosity, placing SN~2021foa between the SN~IIn and SN~Ibn populations. The spectral comparison with SNe~IIn and SNe~Ibn shows that it resembles the SN~IIn population at pre-maximum, becomes intermediate between SNe~IIn/Ibn around maximum light, and similar to SN~1996al at late times. The photometric evolution shows a precursor at $-$50 d and a light curve shoulder around 17 d, which matches well with the light curve of the interacting IIns like SN~2016jbu. The peak luminosity and color evolution of SN 2021foa are consistent with most SNe~IIn and SNe~Ibn. SN~2021foa shows the unique case of a SN~IIn where the P-Cygni features in H$\alpha$ appear at later stages, either due to complex geometry of the CSM or an interaction of the ejecta with a CSM shell/disk (similar to SNe~2009ip and 2015bh). Temporal evolution of the H$\alpha$ profile favours a disk-like CSM geometry (CSM having both H and He) with a narrow (500 -- 1200 km s$^{-1}$) component, intermediate width (3000 -- 8000 km s$^{-1}$) and broad component in absorption. Hydrodynamical lightcurve modelling can well-reproduce the lightcurve by a two-component CSM structure with different densities ($\rho$ $\propto$ r$^{-2}$ -- $\rho$ $\propto$ r$^{-5}$), mass-loss rates (10$^{-3}$ -- 10$^{-1}$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$) assuming a wind velocity of 1000 km s$^{-1}$ and having a CSM mass of 0.18 M$_{\odot}$. The overall evolution supports the fact that indicates that SN~2021foa most likely originated from a LBV star transitioning to a WR star with the mass-loss rate increasing in the period from 5 to 0.5 years before the explosion or it could be due to a binary interaction., Comment: To be submitted to MNRAS in few days; 20 pages, 16 figures, 4 tables

Compact binary millisecond pulsars (MSPs), with orbital periods $\lesssim1$d, are key to understanding binary evolution involving massive neutron stars (NSs). Due to ablation of the companion by the rapidly spinning pulsar, these systems are also known as spiders, categorized into two main branches: redbacks (RBs; companion mass in the range of 0.1 to 0.5 M$_{\odot}$) and black widows (BWs; companion mass $\lesssim$ 0.1 M$_{\odot}$). We present models of low- and intermediate-mass X-ray binaries (XRBs) and compare them with observations of Galactic spiders (including the presence/absence of hydrogen lines in their optical spectra). We constrain and quantify the interaction between pulsar and companion. Using MESA, we create the allowed initial parameter space, modeling the irradiation of the companion by the pulsar wind. For the first time in MESA, we include the detailed evolution of the pulsar spin. Efficient mass accretion onto the NS ($70\%$ of mass transferred) with an X-ray irradiated disc, followed by strong irradiation of the companion can explain most properties of the observed spiders. Our RBs continue to the BW regime, connecting the two branches of spiders. Our models explain the lack of hydrogen in some observed BWs with ultra-light companions. The mass required to spin-up a NS to sub-milliseconds is high enough to collapse it into a black hole. Finally, we discuss the formation of RB-like spiders with giant companions and orbital periods of several days (huntsmen) showing that they are unlikely to produce super-massive NSs (maximum accreted mass $\lesssim$0.5 M$_{\odot}$). Cannibalistic MSP binary formation depends heavily on the interplay between accretion onto the pulsar and pulsar wind irradiation. Our work supports earlier claims that RBs evolve into BWs. We also show that the fastest-spinning pulsars may collapse before reaching sub-millisecond spin periods., Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, submitted to A&A

In the first part of this article, we give bounds on self-intersections $C^2$ of integral curves $C$ on blow-ups $Bl_nX$ of surfaces $X$ with the anti-cannonical divisor $-K_X$ effective. In the last part, we prove the weak bounded negativity for self-intersections $C^2$ of integral curves $C$ in a family of surfaces $f:Y\longrightarrow B$ where $B$ is a smooth curve.

This study uses methods from futures studies to develop a set of ten self-consistent scenarios for Earth's 1000-year future, which can serve as examples for defining technosignature search strategies. We apply a novel worldbuilding pipeline that evaluates the dimensions of human needs in each scenario as a basis for defining the observable properties of the technosphere. Our scenarios include three with zero-growth stability, two that have collapsed into a stable state, one that oscillates between growth and collapse, and four that continue to grow. Only one scenario includes rapid growth that could lead to interstellar expansion. We examine absorption spectral features for a few scenarios to illustrate that nitrogen dioxide can serve as a technosignature to distinguish between present-day Earth, pre-agricultural Earth, and an industrial 1000-year future Earth. Three of our scenarios are spectrally indistinguishable from pre-agricultural Earth, even though these scenarios include expansive technospheres. Up to nine of these scenarios could represent steady-state examples that could persist for much longer timescales, and it remains possible that short-duration technospheres could be the most abundant. Our scenario set provides the basis for further systematic thinking about technosignature detection as well as for imagining a broad range of possibilities for Earth's future., Comment: Submitted to Technological Forecasting and Social Change

Hypothesis: Generating multi-layer cargo using conventional methods is challenging. We hypothesize that incorporating a Y-junction compound droplet generator to encase a target core inside a second liquid can circumvent the kinetic energy dependence of the impact-driven liquid-liquid encapsulation technique, enabling minimally restrictive multi-layer encapsulation. Experiments: Stable wrapping is obtained by impinging a compound droplet (generated using Y-junction) on an interfacial layer of another shell-forming liquid floating on a host liquid bath, leading to double-layered encapsulation. The underlying dynamics of the liquid-liquid interfaces are captured using high-speed imaging. To demonstrate the versatility of the technique, we used various liquids as interfacial layers, including magnetoresponsive oil-based ferrofluids. Moreover, we extended the technique to triple-layered encapsulation by overlaying a second interfacial layer atop the first floating interfacial layer. Findings: The encapsulating layer(s) effectively protects the water-soluble inner core (ethylene glycol) inside the water bath. A non-dimensional experimental regime is established for successful encapsulation in terms of the impact kinetic energy, interfacial layer thickness, and the viscosity ratio of the interfacial layer and the outer core liquid. Using selective fluorescent tagging, we confirm the presence of individual shell layers wrapped around the core, which presents a promising pathway to visualize the internal morphology of final encapsulated droplets., Comment: Utsab Banerjee and Sirshendu Misra contributed equally to this work

We investigate the interfacial dynamics involved in the impact of a droplet on a liquid-liquid system, which involves the impingement of an immiscible core liquid drop from a vertical separation onto an interfacial shell liquid layer floating on a host liquid bath. The dynamics have been studied for a wide range of impact Weber numbers and two different interfacial shell liquids of varying volumes. The core drop, upon impact, dragged the interfacial liquid into the host liquid, forming an interfacial liquid column with an air cavity inside the host liquid bath. The dynamics is resolved into cavity expansion and rapid contraction, followed by thinning of the interfacial liquid. The interplay of viscous dissipation, interfacial pull, and core drop inertia influenced the necking dynamics. The viscous dissipation increases with the thickness of the interfacial layer, which depends on its volume and lateral spread over the water. The necking dynamics transitioned from inertia-dominated deep seal closure at higher spread, lower interfacial film volumes, and higher Weber numbers, into inertia-capillary dominated deep seal closure with an increase in film volumes, decrease in the spread of the interfacial fluid or decrease in Weber number, and finally transitioned into a no seal closure at high volumes, low spread, and low Weber numbers.

Neural network language models (LMs) have been shown to successfully capture complex linguistic knowledge. However, their utility for understanding language acquisition is still debated. We contribute to this debate by presenting a case study where we use LMs as simulated learners to derive novel experimental hypotheses to be tested with humans. We apply this paradigm to study cross-dative generalization (CDG): productive generalization of novel verbs across dative constructions (she pilked me the ball/she pilked the ball to me) -- acquisition of which is known to involve a large space of contextual features -- using LMs trained on child-directed speech. We specifically ask: "what properties of the training exposure facilitate a novel verb's generalization to the (unmodeled) alternate construction?" To answer this, we systematically vary the exposure context in which a novel dative verb occurs in terms of the properties of the theme and recipient, and then analyze the LMs' usage of the novel verb in the unmodeled dative construction. We find LMs to replicate known patterns of children's CDG, as a precondition to exploring novel hypotheses. Subsequent simulations reveal a nuanced role of the features of the novel verbs' exposure context on the LMs' CDG. We find CDG to be facilitated when the first postverbal argument of the exposure context is pronominal, definite, short, and conforms to the prototypical animacy expectations of the exposure dative. These patterns are characteristic of harmonic alignment in datives, where the argument with features ranking higher on the discourse prominence scale tends to precede the other. This gives rise to a novel hypothesis that CDG is facilitated insofar as the features of the exposure context -- in particular, its first postverbal argument -- are harmonically aligned. We conclude by proposing future experiments that can test this hypothesis in children.

The characterization of exoplanetary atmospheres through transit spectra is becoming increasingly feasible, and technology for direct detection remains ongoing. The possibility of detecting spectral features could enable quantitative constraints on atmospheric composition or even serve as a potential biosignature, with the sensitivity of the instrument and observation time as key limiting factors. This paper discusses the possibility that future remote observations could detect the presence of radioactive elements in the atmospheres of exoplanets. Such radionuclides could arise from cosmogenic or geologic sources, as well as from industrial sources, all of which occur on Earth. The detection of radionuclides in an exoplanetary atmosphere could reveal important properties about the planet's geology or space environment, and potentially could serve as a technosignature. However, many radionuclides, including those from industrial sources, attach to aerosol or other particles that cannot be remotely characterized. Limited experimental and theoretical spectral data exist for long-lived radionuclides, but the sensitivity required to detect the spectral features of some known radionuclides would be at least several orders of magnitude greater than required to detect the spectral features of molecular oxygen. Present-day remote spectroscopic observing mission concepts at ultraviolet to mid-infrared wavelengths are not sensitive to discern the presence of radionuclides in exoplanetary atmospheres. Interplanetary fly-by or probe missions may be more likely to provide such data in the future., Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

We study the nonlinear theory of small-amplitude electron-acoustic solitons (EASs) in a relativistic astrophysical magnetoplasma consisting of two-temperature electrons: a sparse population of relativistic nondegenerate classical electrons and a group of fully degenerate dense relativistic electrons (main constituent) immersed in a static magnetic field with a neutralizing stationary ion background. By using the multiple-scale reductive perturbation technique with the Lorentz transformation, the Zakharov-Kuznetsov (ZK) and the modified Zakharov-Kuznetsov (mZK) equations are derived to describe the evolution of EASs in two different regimes of relativistic degeneracy: $r_{d0}<50$ and $r_{d0}\gtrsim50$. The characteristics of the plane soliton solutions of ZK and mZK equations and the soliton energy are studied. We show that the solitons moving at an angle $\alpha$ to the external magnetic field can be unstable under transverse long-wavelength perturbations. The growth rates of instabilities are obtained and analyzed with the effects of the relativity parameter $\beta_{\rm{cl}}=k_BT_{\rm{cl}}/m_ec^2$ and the degeneracy parameter $r_{d0}$, where $k_B$ is the Boltzmann constant and $T_{\rm{cl}}$ is the temperature of classical electrons. Interestingly, the ZK solitons, even if it is stable for the first-order perturbations, can be unstable in the second-order correction. Furthermore, while the first-order growth rates of perturbations for ZK solitons tend to vanish as $\alpha\rightarrow 38^\circ$, that for the mZK soliton goes to zero as $\alpha\rightarrow 90^\circ$. However, depending on the angle $\alpha$, the growth rates are found to be reduced either by increasing the values of $\beta_{\rm{cl}}$ or by decreasing the values of $r_{d0}$. The applications of our results to astrophysical plasmas, such as those in the environments of white dwarfs are discussed., Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures

In this study, we undertake a spectral-timing analysis of the black hole X-ray binary source GRS 1915+105 using simultaneous observations carried out by AstroSat (LAXPC and SXT) and NICER in 2017. The source showed two flux levels (high and low), whose energy spectra can be described by the thermal comptonization of disk photons. The spectral parameters obtained by the joint fitting of SXT/LAXPC and NICER/LAXPC were consistent. The power density spectra from LAXPC and NICER revealed a broad, prominent feature at approximately 2 Hz. The energy dependence of the fractional R.M.S. and time lag of this feature cannot be explained by only variations of coronal spectral parameters. Instead, a model where the coronal heating rate varies first and induces a change in the disk temperature and inner radius can explain the variation. Our results underline the importance of simultaneous observations by AstroSat and NICER and highlight the need for more sophisticated models to explain the spectral-temporal behavior of black hole systems., Comment: Accepted for publication in APJ

Recently, Kaladze and Misra [Phys. Scr. 99 (2024) 085013] showed that the tropospheric stratified fluid flows may be unstable by the effects of the negative temperature gradient and the temperature-dependent density inhomogeneity arising from the thermal expansion. They also predicted that the modification in the Brunt-V\"ais\"al\"a frequency by the density inhomogeneity can lead to Rayleigh-B\'enard convective instability in the tropospheric unbounded layers. The purpose of the present work is to revisit the Rayleigh-B\'enard convective instability in more detail by considering both unbounded and bounded tropospheric layers. We show that the conditions for instability in these two cases significantly differ. The critical values of the Raleigh numbers and the expressions for the instability growth rates of thermal waves in the two cases are obtained and analyzed. In the case of the bounded region, we also derive the necessary boundary conditions and note that the vertical wave number is quantified, and the corresponding eigenvalue problem is well-set., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

Users of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications face significant risks from adversarial actions that manipulate the order of transactions to extract value from users. Such actions -- an adversarial form of what is called maximal-extractable value (MEV) -- impact both individual outcomes and the stability of the DeFi ecosystem. MEV exploitation, moreover, is being institutionalized through an architectural paradigm known Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS). This work introduces a system called PROF (PRotected Order Flow) that is designed to limit harmful forms of MEV in existing PBS systems. PROF aims at this goal using two ideas. First, PROF imposes an ordering on a set ("bundle") of privately input transactions and enforces that ordering all the way through to block production -- preventing transaction-order manipulation. Second, PROF creates bundles whose inclusion is profitable to block producers, thereby ensuring that bundles see timely inclusion in blocks. PROF is backward-compatible, meaning that it works with existing and future PBS designs. PROF is also compatible with any desired algorithm for ordering transactions within a PROF bundle (e.g., first-come, first-serve, fee-based, etc.). It executes efficiently, i.e., with low latency, and requires no additional trust assumptions among PBS entities. We quantitatively and qualitatively analyze incentive structure of PROF, and its utility to users compared with existing solutions. We also report on inclusion likelihood of PROF transactions, and concrete latency numbers through our end-to-end implementation., Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures

Tanker-based distribution systems have been prevalent in developing countries to supply clean and pure water in different regions. To efficiently operate such tanker service systems, a large fleet of tanker trucks are required to transport water among several water sources, water treatment plants and consumers spanning across the regions. This requires tighter coordination between water suppliers, treatment plant operations, and user groups to use available water resources in a sustainable manner, along with the assurance of water quality and timely delivery. This paper proposes a novel formulation to assist decision-making for optimizing tanker-based water distribution systems and treatment operations, with an overall objective of minimizing the total operating cost such that all of the constraints related to the water demand, supply operations, and environmental and social aspects are honored while supplying water to a maximum number of users. The problem is formulated and solved as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) optimization framework and captures all of the nuances related to (i) water availability limitations and quality constraints from different sources, (ii) maintaining water quality as it transports via tankers, (iii) water demands for various end-use purposes, and (iv) transportation across a water supply chain. The proposed novel framework is applied to a realistic urban model to find the optimal tanker delivery schedule, ensuring appropriate treatment and timely delivery of water. The results of the case study conducted on a representative-scale problem also elucidate several aspects of treatment plant operation and consumer demand fulfillment for the efficient planning and management of tanker-based water distribution systems., Comment: 50 pages, 11 figures

Stationary distributions of multivariate diffusion processes have recently been proposed as probabilistic models of causal systems in statistics and machine learning. Motivated by these developments, we study stationary multivariate diffusion processes with a sparsely structured drift. Our main result gives a characterization of the conditional independence relations that hold in a stationary distribution. The result draws on a graphical representation of the drift structure and pertains to conditional independence relations that hold generally as a consequence of the drift's sparsity pattern., Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, 8 pages of appendix

Tanker water systems play critical role in providing adequate service to meet potable water demands in the face of acute water crisis in many cities globally. Managing tanker movements among the supply and demand sides requires an efficient scheduling framework that could promote economic feasibility, ensure timely delivery, and avoid water wastage. However, to realize such a sustainable water supply operation, inherent uncertainties related to consumer demand and tanker travel time need to accounted in the operational scheduling. Herein, a two-stage stochastic optimization model with a recourse approach is developed for scheduling and optimization of tanker based water supply and treatment facility operations under uncertainty. The uncertain water demands and tanker travel times are combinedly modelled in a computationally efficient manner using a hybrid Monte Carlo simulation and scenario tree approach. The maximum demand fulfillment, limited extraction of groundwater, and timely delivery of quality water are enforced through a set of constraints to achieve sustainable operation. A representative urban case study is demonstrated, results are discussed for two uncertainty cases (i) only demand, and (ii) integrated demand-travel time. Value of stochastic solution over expected value and perfect information model solutions are analyzed and features of the framework for informed decision-making are discussed., Comment: 46 pages, 11 figures

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.

We investigate the spectroscopic characteristics of Intermediate Luminosity Red Transients (ILRTs), a class of elusive objects with peak luminosity between that of classical novae and standard supernovae. We present the extensive optical and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic monitoring of four ILRTs, namely NGC 300 2008OT-1, AT 2019abn, AT 2019ahd and AT 2019udc. First we focus on the evolution of the most prominent spectral features observed in the low resolution spectra, then we discuss more in detail the high resolution spectrum collected for NGC 300 2008OT-1 with the Very Large Telescope equipped with UVES. Finally we analyse late time spectra of NGC 300 2008OT-1 and AT 2019ahd through comparisons with both synthetic and observed spectra. Balmer and Ca lines dominate the optical spectra, revealing the presence of slowly moving circumstellar medium (CSM) around the objects. The line luminosity of H$\alpha$, H$\beta$ and Ca II NIR triplet presents a double peaked evolution with time, possibly indicative of interaction between fast ejecta and the slow CSM. The high resolution spectrum of NGC 300 2008OT-1 reveals a complex circumstellar environment, with the transient being surrounded by a slow ($\sim$30 km s$^{-1}$) progenitor wind. At late epochs, optical spectra of NGC 300 2008OT-1 and AT 2019ahd show broad ($\sim$2500 km s$^{-1}$) emission features at $\sim$6170 A and $\sim$7000 A which are unprecedented for ILRTs. We find that these lines originate most likely from the blending of several narrow lines, possibly of iron-peak elements., Comment: 28 pages, 19 figures. Submitted to A&A

We investigate the photometric characteristics of a sample of Intermediate Luminosity Red Transients (ILRTs), a class of elusive objects with peak luminosity between that of classical novae and standard supernovae. We present the multi-wavelength photometric follow-up of four ILRTs, namely NGC 300 2008OT-1, AT 2019abn, AT 2019ahd and AT 2019udc. Through the analysis and modelling of their spectral energy distribution and bolometric light curves we infer the physical parameters associated with these transients. All four objects display a single peaked light curve which ends in a linear decline in magnitudes at late phases. A flux excess with respect to a single black body emission is detected in the infrared domain for three objects in our sample, a few months after maximum. This feature, commonly found in ILRTs, is interpreted as a sign of dust formation. Mid infrared monitoring of NGC 300 2008OT-1 761 days after maximum allows us to infer the presence of $\sim$10$^{-3}$-10$^{-5}$ M$_{\odot}$ of dust, depending on the chemical composition and the grain size adopted. The late time decline of the bolometric light curves of the considered ILRTs is shallower than expected for $^{56}$Ni decay, hence requiring an additional powering mechanism. James Webb Space Telescope observations of AT 2019abn prove that the object has faded below its progenitor luminosity in the mid-infrared domain, five years after its peak. Together with the disappearance of NGC 300 2008OT-1 in Spitzer images seven years after its discovery, this supports the terminal explosion scenario for ILRTs. With a simple semi-analytical model we try to reproduce the observed bolometric light curves in the context of few M$_{\odot}$ of material ejected at few 10$^{3}$ km s$^{-1}$ and enshrouded in an optically thick circumstellar medium., Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures plus 20 additional pages of data in appendix. Submitted to A&A

Some, if not all, binary neutron star (BNS) coalescences, and a fraction of neutron - star black hole (NSBH) mergers, are thought to produce sufficient mass-ejection to power Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). However, this fraction, as well as the distribution of beaming angles of BNS-associated GRBs, are poorly constrained from observation. Recent work applied machine learning tools to analyze GRB light curves observed by {\textit{Fermi}}/GBM and {\it Swift}/BAT. GRBs were segregated into multiple distinct clusters, with the tantalizing possibility that one of them (BNS cluster) could be associated with BNSs and another (NSBH cluster) with NSBHs. As a proof of principle, assuming that all GRBs detected by {\it Fermi}/GBM and {\it Swift}/BAT associated with BNSs (NSBHs) lie in the BNS (NSBH) cluster, we estimate their rates ($\mathrm{Gpc}^{-3}\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$). We compare these rates with corresponding BNS and NSBH rates estimated by the LIGO-Virgo-Kagra (LVK) collaboration from the first three observing runs (O1, O2, O3). We find that the BNS rates are consistent with LVK's rate estimates, assuming a uniform distribution of beaming fractions ($f_b \in [0.01, 0.1]$). Conversely, using the LVK's BNS rate estimates, assuming all BNS mergers produce GRBs, we are able to constrain the beaming angle distribution to $\theta_j \in [0.8^{\circ}, 38.8^{\circ}]$ at $90\%$ confidence. We similarly place a lower limit on the fraction of GRB-Bright NSBHs to $f_B \gtrsim 0.10$ ($f_B \gtrsim 0.022$) with {\it Fermi}/GBM ({\it Swift}/BAT) data., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures

We seek a systematic tightening method to represent the monogamy relation for some measure in multipartite quantum systems. By introducing a family of parametrized bounds, we obtain tighter lowering bounds for the monogamy relation compared with the most recently discovered relations. We provide detailed examples to illustrate why our bounds are better., Comment: 17pp

The change in the color pattern of the petals of Passiflora incarnata is studied using the chaos theory in the form of logistic maps and plotted using the corresponding bifurcation diagram. Based on a colorful inspection of the beginning of violet-colored dots along the filament of the flower's bud stage and the emergence of alternating bands of violet and white color in the matured bloom, it is possible to deduce that a two-degree model for polynomial mapping can be used to study color oscillations in the flower., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables

Imitation learning (IL) aims to mimic the behavior of an expert in a sequential decision making task by learning from demonstrations, and has been widely applied to robotics, autonomous driving, and autoregressive text generation. The simplest approach to IL, behavior cloning (BC), is thought to incur sample complexity with unfavorable quadratic dependence on the problem horizon, motivating a variety of different online algorithms that attain improved linear horizon dependence under stronger assumptions on the data and the learner's access to the expert. We revisit the apparent gap between offline and online IL from a learning-theoretic perspective, with a focus on general policy classes up to and including deep neural networks. Through a new analysis of behavior cloning with the logarithmic loss, we show that it is possible to achieve horizon-independent sample complexity in offline IL whenever (i) the range of the cumulative payoffs is controlled, and (ii) an appropriate notion of supervised learning complexity for the policy class is controlled. Specializing our results to deterministic, stationary policies, we show that the gap between offline and online IL is not fundamental: (i) it is possible to achieve linear dependence on horizon in offline IL under dense rewards (matching what was previously only known to be achievable in online IL); and (ii) without further assumptions on the policy class, online IL cannot improve over offline IL with the logarithmic loss, even in benign MDPs. We complement our theoretical results with experiments on standard RL tasks and autoregressive language generation to validate the practical relevance of our findings.

General-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) systems are built on massive swathes of public web data, assembled into corpora such as C4, RefinedWeb, and Dolma. To our knowledge, we conduct the first, large-scale, longitudinal audit of the consent protocols for the web domains underlying AI training corpora. Our audit of 14,000 web domains provides an expansive view of crawlable web data and how codified data use preferences are changing over time. We observe a proliferation of AI-specific clauses to limit use, acute differences in restrictions on AI developers, as well as general inconsistencies between websites' expressed intentions in their Terms of Service and their robots.txt. We diagnose these as symptoms of ineffective web protocols, not designed to cope with the widespread re-purposing of the internet for AI. Our longitudinal analyses show that in a single year (2023-2024) there has been a rapid crescendo of data restrictions from web sources, rendering ~5%+ of all tokens in C4, or 28%+ of the most actively maintained, critical sources in C4, fully restricted from use. For Terms of Service crawling restrictions, a full 45% of C4 is now restricted. If respected or enforced, these restrictions are rapidly biasing the diversity, freshness, and scaling laws for general-purpose AI systems. We hope to illustrate the emerging crises in data consent, for both developers and creators. The foreclosure of much of the open web will impact not only commercial AI, but also non-commercial AI and academic research., Comment: 41 pages (13 main), 5 figures, 9 tables

This paper presents a unified differentiable boolean operator for implicit solid shape modeling using Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG). Traditional CSG relies on min, max operators to perform boolean operations on implicit shapes. But because these boolean operators are discontinuous and discrete in the choice of operations, this makes optimization over the CSG representation challenging. Drawing inspiration from fuzzy logic, we present a unified boolean operator that outputs a continuous function and is differentiable with respect to operator types. This enables optimization of both the primitives and the boolean operations employed in CSG with continuous optimization techniques, such as gradient descent. We further demonstrate that such a continuous boolean operator allows modeling of both sharp mechanical objects and smooth organic shapes with the same framework. Our proposed boolean operator opens up new possibilities for future research toward fully continuous CSG optimization., Comment: SIGGRAPH'24

The companion to PSR J1622-0315, one of the most compact known redback millisecond pulsars, shows extremely low irradiation despite its short orbital period. We model this system to determine the binary parameters, combining optical observations from NTT in 2017 and NOT in 2022 with the binary modeling code ICARUS. We find a best-fit neutron star mass of $2.3 \pm 0.4\,\text{M}_\odot $, and a companion mass of $0.15 \pm 0.02\,\text{M}_\odot$. We detect for the first time low-level irradiation from asymmetry in the minima as well as a change in the asymmetry of the maxima of its light curves over five years. Using star spot models, we find better fits than those from symmetric direct heating models, with consistent orbital parameters. We discuss an alternative scenario where the changing asymmetry is produced by a variable intrabinary shock. In summary, we find that PSR J1622-0315 combines low irradiation with variable light curve asymmetry, and a relatively high neutron star mass., Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures

In this article, we calculate the $S$-matrix elements for the process $e^{+} e^{-}\rightarrow t \bar{t}$ mediated by SM photon, $Z$ boson and an additional $Z^{'}$ boson indicating the contribution from new physics. We calculate the amplitude square using two component spinor formalism and four component spinor formalism and show the equivalence of the results using the two formalisms. We also establish the relations between the couplings of $Z^{'}$ boson to fermions in the two component spinor formalism and four component spinor formalism.

Quantum computing is an emerging field on the multidisciplinary interface between physics, engineering, and computer science with the potential to make a large impact on computational intelligence (CI). The aim of this paper is to introduce quantum approximate optimization methods to the CI community because of direct relevance to solving combinatorial problems. We introduce quantum computing and variational quantum algorithms (VQAs). VQAs are an effective method for the near-term implementation of quantum solutions on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices with less reliable qubits and early-stage error correction. Then, we explain Farhi et al.'s quantum approximate optimization algorithm (Farhi's QAOA, to prevent confusion). This VQA is generalized by Hadfield et al. to the quantum alternating operator ansatz (QAOA), which is a nature-inspired (particularly, adiabatic) quantum metaheuristic for approximately solving combinatorial optimization problems on gate-based quantum computers. We discuss connections of QAOA to relevant domains, such as computational learning theory and genetic algorithms, discussing current techniques and known results regarding hybrid quantum-classical intelligence systems. We present a schematic of how QAOA is constructed, and also discuss how CI techniques can be used to improve QAOA. We conclude with QAOA implementations for the well-known maximum cut, maximum bisection, and traveling salesperson problems, which can serve as templates for CI practitioners interested in using QAOA., Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures

XB 1254-690 is a neutron star low-mass X-ray binary with an orbital period of 3.88 hrs, and it exhibits energy-dependent intensity dips, thermonuclear bursts, and flares. We present the results of an analysis of a long observation of this source using the AstroSat satellite. The X-ray light curve gradually changed from a high-intensity flaring state to a low-intensity one with a few dips. The hardness intensity diagram showed that the source is in a high-intensity banana state with a gradually changing flux. Based on this, we divide the observation into four flux levels for a flux-resolved spectral study. The X-ray spectra can be explained by a model consisting of absorption, thermal emission from the disc and non-thermal emission from the corona. From our studies, we detect a correlation between the temperature of the thermal component and the flux and we examine the implications of our results for the accretion disc geometry of this source., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 11 pages, 12 figures

Speaker diarization systems segment a conversation recording based on the speakers' identity. Such systems can misclassify the speaker of a portion of audio due to a variety of factors, such as speech pattern variation, background noise, and overlapping speech. These errors propagate to, and can adversely affect, downstream systems that rely on the speaker's identity, such as speaker-adapted speech recognition. One of the ways to mitigate these errors is to provide segment-level diarization confidence scores to downstream systems. In this work, we investigate multiple methods for generating diarization confidence scores, including those derived from the original diarization system and those derived from an external model. Our experiments across multiple datasets and diarization systems demonstrate that the most competitive confidence score methods can isolate ~30% of the diarization errors within segments with the lowest ~10% of confidence scores., Comment: Accepted in INTERSPEECH 2024

GRBs produced by the collapse of massive stars are usually found near the most prominent star-forming regions of star-forming galaxies. GRB 171205A happened in the outskirts of a spiral galaxy, a peculiar location in an atypical GRB host. In this paper we present a highly-resolved study of the molecular gas of this host, with CO(1-0) observations from ALMA. We compare with GMRT atomic HI observations, and with data at other wavelengths to provide a broad-band view of the galaxy. The ALMA observations have a spatial resolution of 0.2" and a spectral resolution of 10 km/s, observed when the afterglow had a flux density of ~53 mJy. This allowed a molecular study both in emission and absorption. The HI observations allowed to study the host galaxy and its extended environment. The CO emission shows an undisturbed spiral structure with a central bar, and no significant emission at the location of the GRB. Our CO spectrum does not reveal any CO absorption, with a column density limit of < 10^15 cm^-2. This argues against the progenitor forming in a massive molecular cloud. The molecular gas traces the galaxy arms with higher concentration in the regions dominated by dust. The HI gas does not follow the stellar light or the molecular gas and is concentrated in two blobs, with no emission towards the centre of the galaxy, and is slightly displaced towards the southwest of the galaxy, where the GRB exploded. Within the extended neighbourhood of the host galaxy, we identify another prominent HI source at the same redshift, at a projected distance of 188 kpc. Our observations show that the progenitor of this GRB is not associated to a massive molecular cloud, but more likely related to low-metallicity atomic gas. The distortion in the HI gas field is indicator of an odd environment that could have triggered star formation and could be linked to a past interaction with the companion galaxy., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, 8 tables, A&A submitted after 1st referee review

The design of a 637-nm wavelength, photonic-integrated-circuit-based external cavity laser (PIC-based ECL) aimed at quantum technology applications is presented together with first experimental results. The PIC is designed to provide relaxed alignment tolerance for coupling to a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) gain chip. This is achieved by using a multi-mode edge coupler (MMEC) in place of the usually employed single-mode coupling schemes. A 1-dB-penalty misalignment tolerance of up to +/- 2.4 um can be achieved in the plane of the chip, creating a path towards reliable flip-chip integration at short wavelengths. The power coupled to the PIC is fed to a Sagnac-loop reflector, filtered by a pair of ring resonators operated in Vernier configuration for providing the required frequency selective optical feedback. The ring resonators are designed to have different loaded Q-factors and they are asymmetrically coupled to bus and drop waveguides with suitably engineered directional couplers to provide single output waveguide emission. Moreover, requirements for high output power and narrow linewidths are balanced. Finally, preliminary measurements strongly suggest lasing in the fabricated devices, with further performance optimization being currently carried out.

We study the modulation of fast magnetosonic waves (MSWs) in rotating inhomogeneous low-$\beta$ magnetoplasmas with the effects of gravitation and the Coriolis force. By employing the standard multiple-scale reductive perturbation technique (RPT), we derive a nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger (NLS) equation that governs the evolution of slowly varying MSW envelopes. The fast MSW becomes dispersive by the effects of the Coriolis force in the fluid motion, and the magnetic field and density inhomogeneity effects favor the Jeans instability in self-gravitating plasmas in a larger domain of the wave number ($k$, below the Jeans critical wave number, $k_J$) than homogeneous plasmas. The relative influence of the Jeans frequency ($\omega_J$, associated with the gravitational force) and the angular frequency ($\Omega_0$, relating to the Coriolis force) on the Jeans carrier MSW mode and the modulational instability (MI) of the MSW envelope is studied. We show that the MSW envelope (corresponding to the unstable carrier Jeans mode with $\omega_J>2\Omega_0$ and $k2\Omega_0$ but $k>k_J$ manifests either modulational stability or MI having a finite growth rate before being cut off. We find an enhancement of the MI growth rate by the influence of magnetic field or density inhomogeneity. The case with constant gravity force (other than the self-gravity) perpendicular to the magnetic field is also briefly discussed to show that the fast magnetosonic carrier mode is always unstable, giving MI of slowly varying envelopes with no cut-offs for the growth rates. Possible applications of MI in solar plasmas, such as those in the X-ray corona, are also briefly discussed., Comment: 17 Pages, 8 figures (Added a figure, a few references, and discussions; the revised version to appear in Physica Scripta: https://doi.org/10.1088/1402-4896/ad720a)

We present the results of a nation-wide baseline survey, conducted by us, for the status of Astronomy education among secondary school students in India. The survey was administered in 10 different languages to over 2000 students from diverse backgrounds, and it explored multiple facets of their perspectives on astronomy. The topics included students' views on the incorporation of astronomy in curricula, their grasp of fundamental astronomical concepts, access to educational resources, cultural connections to astronomy, and their levels of interest and aspirations in the subject. We find notable deficiencies in students' knowledge of basic astronomical principles, with only a minority demonstrating proficiency in key areas such as celestial sizes, distances, and lunar phases. Furthermore, access to resources such as telescopes and planetariums remain limited across the country. Despite these challenges, a significant majority of students expressed a keen interest in astronomy. We further analyze the data along socioeconomic and gender lines. Particularly striking were the socioeconomic disparities, with students from resource-poor backgrounds often having lower levels of access and proficiency. Some differences were observed between genders, although not very pronounced. The insights gleaned from this study hold valuable implications for the development of a more robust astronomy curriculum and the design of effective teacher training programs in the future., Comment: 15 pages, 19 figures

We report results from a detailed study of the neutron star X-ray binary, 4U 1608-52 using observations with {\it AstroSat} (LAXPC/SXT) and {\it NICER} during its 2016 and 2020 outbursts. The 0.7--20.0 keV spectra could be well described with the disk blackbody and thermal Comptonization model. The best-fitting inner disk temperature is $\sim$ 1 keV and radius { $\sim$ 22.17$^{+2.57}_{-2.38}$--27.19$^{+2.03}_{-1.85}$} km and no significant evolution was observed in the disk radius after performing flux and time-resolved spectroscopy. We used a multi-Lorentzian approach to fit the power density spectra and obtained broad-band noise variability. We estimated the energy-dependent fractional root mean square and time-lag of the broad-band noise, and these variations are quantitatively modelled as being due to the coherent variation of the disk emission and the coronal heating rate. Thus, the rapid temporal modeling is consistent with the longer term spectral evolution where the inner disk radius does not vary, and instead the variations can be attributed to accretion rate variations which changes the inner disk temperature and the coronal heating rate., Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, The manuscript has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

The momentum of human spaceflight initiatives continues to build toward Mars, and technological advances may eventually enable the potential for permanent space settlement. Aspirations for sustaining human life in space must be predicated on human factors, rather than technological constraints alone, and advances in models of governance and ethics are necessary as human civilization becomes a spacefaring species. This paper presents an idealistic but feasible model for economic freedom on Mars, which is situated within a framework in which Mars has been designated as a sovereign juridical peer to Earth. Under such conditions, Mars could maintain monetary stability through full reserve banking and a restriction on exchange with any fractional reserve Earth currencies, with a volume of circulating currency that changes based on the total population within fixed capacity infrastructure. Mars could maintain long-term political stability by diffusing the ownership of capital on Mars, which would allow all citizens of Mars to draw sufficient wealth from a combination of capital ownership and labor to live a good life. This model could also support limited tourism on Mars, in which real goods are exchanged for services but currency transactions between planets are prohibited. This model demonstrates the potential for a viable and sustainable economy on Mars that could conceivably be implemented, including on a sovereign Mars but also in other scenarios of space settlement. More broadly, this model illustrates that ideas such as diffuse capital ownership and limited government can enable freedom in space, and numerous models beyond a centralized world space agency should be explored to ensure the optimal governance of the emerging space economy., Comment: Accepted by Space Policy

We study almost-envy-freeness in house allocation, where $m$ houses are to be allocated among $n$ agents so that every agent receives exactly one house. An envy-free allocation need not exist, and therefore we may have to settle for relaxations of envy-freeness. But typical relaxations such as envy-free up to one good do not make sense for house allocation, as every agent is required to receive exactly one house. Hence we turn to different aggregate measures of envy as markers of fairness. In particular, we define the amount of envy experienced by an agent $a$ w.r.t. an allocation to be the number of agents that agent $a$ envies under that allocation. We quantify the envy generated by an allocation using three different metrics: 1) the number of agents who are envious; 2) the maximum amount of envy experienced by any agent; and 3) the total amount of envy experienced by all agents, and look for allocations that minimize one of the three metrics. We thus study three computational problems corresponding to each of the three metrics and prove a host of algorithmic and hardness results. We also suggest practical approaches for these problems via integer linear program (ILP) formulations and report the findings of our experimental evaluation of ILPs. Finally, we study the price of fairness (PoF), which quantifies the loss of welfare we must suffer due to the fairness requirements, and we prove a number of results on PoF, including tight bounds as well as algorithms that simultaneously optimize both welfare and fairness., Comment: 49 pages, 5 tables; A shorter version of this paper appeared at AAMAS 2023

As JWST begins to return observations, it is more important than ever that exoplanet climate models can consistently and correctly predict the observability of exoplanets, retrieval of their data, and interpretation of planetary environments from that data. Model intercomparisons play a crucial role in this context, especially now when few data are available to validate model predictions. The CUISINES Working Group of NASA's Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) supports a systematic approach to evaluating the performance of exoplanet models, and provides here a framework for conducting community-organized exoplanet Model Intercomparison Projects (exoMIPs). The CUISINES framework adapts Earth climate community practices specifically for the needs of exoplanet researchers, encompassing a range of model types, planetary targets, and parameter space studies. It is intended to help researchers to work collectively, equitably, and openly toward common goals. The CUISINES framework rests on five principles: 1) Define in advance what research question(s) the exoMIP is intended to address. 2) Create an experimental design that maximizes community participation, and advertise it widely. 3) Plan a project timeline that allows all exoMIP members to participate fully. 4) Generate data products from model output for direct comparison to observations. 5) Create a data management plan that is workable in the present and scalable for the future. Within the first years of its existence, CUISINES is already providing logistical support to 10 exoMIPs, and will continue to host annual workshops for further community feedback and presentation of new exoMIP ideas., Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures

The new generation of strained silicon nitride resonators harbors great promise for scanning force microscopy, especially when combined with the extensive toolbox of cavity optomechanics. However, accessing a mechanical resonator inside an optical cavity with a scanning tip is challenging. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a cavity-based scanning force microscope based on a silicon nitride membrane sensor. We overcome geometric constraints by making use of the extended nature of the mechanical resonator normal modes, which allows us to spatially separate the scanning and readout sites of the membrane. Our microscope is geared towards low-temperature applications in the zeptonewton regime, such as nanoscale nuclear spin detection and imaging., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures

Aggression is a two-player game of troop placement and attack played on a map (modeled as a graph). Players take turns deploying troops on a territory (a vertex on the graph) until they run out. Once all troops are placed, players take turns attacking enemy territories. A territory can be attacked if it has $k$ troops and there are more than $k$ enemy troops on adjacent territories. At the end of the game, the player who controls the most territories wins. In the case of a tie, the player with more surviving troops wins. The first player to exhaust their troops in the placement phase leads the attack phase. We study the complexity of the game when the graph along with an assignment of troops and the sequence of attacks planned by the second player. Even in this restrained setting, we show that the problem of determining an optimal sequence of first player moves is NP-complete. We then analyze the game for when the input graph is a matching or a cycle., Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures; a shorter version was accepted for presentation at COCOON 2025

The emergence of quantum computing technology over the last decade indicates the potential for a transformational impact in the study of quantum mechanical systems. It is natural to presume that such computing technologies would be valuable to large scientific institutions, such as United States national laboratories. However, detailed descriptions of what these institutions would like to use these computers for are limited. To help provide some initial insights into this topic, this report develops detailed use cases of how quantum computing technology could be utilized to enhance a variety of quantum physics research activities at Los Alamos National Laboratory, including quantum magnetic materials, high-temperature superconductivity and nuclear astrophysics simulations. The report discusses how current high-performance computers are used for scientific discovery today and develops detailed descriptions of the types of quantum physics simulations that Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists would like to conduct, if a sufficient computing technology became available. While the report strives to highlight the breadth of potential application areas for quantum computation, this investigation has also indicated that many more use cases exist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which could be documented in similar detail with sufficient time and effort.