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We measure the growth of cosmic density fluctuations on large scales and across the redshift range $0.3

The main objective of this article is to investigate the viability of bouncing cosmological scenarios using different forms of scale factors with perfect matter configuration in the framework of extended symmetric teleparallel theory. This modified proposal is defined by the function $f(Q,T)$, where $Q$ characterizes non-metricity and $T$ denotes the trace of energy-momentum tensor. We investigate the modified field equations of this theory using different parametric values of the Hubble parameter and non-metricity to derive viable solutions. These solutions are relevant in various cosmological bounce models such as symmetric-bounce, super-bounce, oscillatory-bounce, matter-bounce and exponential-bounce models. Furthermore, we examine the behavior of energy density and pressure to analyze the characteristics of dark energy. A comprehensive analysis is also conducted to explore the behavior of the equation of state parameter and deceleration parameter to examine the evolutionary eras of the cosmos. Our findings show that the $f(Q,T)$ gravity describes the cosmic expansion in the vicinity of the bouncing point during the early and late times of cosmic evolution., Comment: 31 pages, 23 figures, The European Physical Journal C (Accepted)

Training deep neural networks often requires large-scale datasets, necessitating storage and processing on cloud servers due to computational constraints. The procedures must follow strict privacy regulations in domains like healthcare. Split Learning (SL), a framework that divides model layers between client(s) and server(s), is widely adopted for distributed model training. While Split Learning reduces privacy risks by limiting server access to the full parameter set, previous research has identified that intermediate outputs exchanged between server and client can compromise client's data privacy. Homomorphic encryption (HE)-based solutions exist for this scenario but often impose prohibitive computational burdens. To address these challenges, we propose CURE, a novel system based on HE, that encrypts only the server side of the model and optionally the data. CURE enables secure SL while substantially improving communication and parallelization through advanced packing techniques. We propose two packing schemes that consume one HE level for one-layer networks and generalize our solutions to n-layer neural networks. We demonstrate that CURE can achieve similar accuracy to plaintext SL while being 16x more efficient in terms of the runtime compared to the state-of-the-art privacy-preserving alternatives.

We present a high-significance cross-correlation of CMB lensing maps from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Data Release 6 (DR6) with spectroscopically calibrated luminous red galaxies (LRGs) from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). We detect this cross-correlation at a significance of 38$\sigma$; combining our measurement with the Planck Public Release 4 (PR4) lensing map, we detect the cross-correlation at 50$\sigma$. Fitting this jointly with the galaxy auto-correlation power spectrum to break the galaxy bias degeneracy with $\sigma_8$, we perform a tomographic analysis in four LRG redshift bins spanning $0.4 \le z \le 1.0$ to constrain the amplitude of matter density fluctuations through the parameter combination $S_8^\times = \sigma_8 \left(\Omega_m / 0.3\right)^{0.4}$. Prior to unblinding, we confirm with extragalactic simulations that foreground biases are negligible and carry out a comprehensive suite of null and consistency tests. Using a hybrid effective field theory (HEFT) model that allows scales as small as $k_{\rm max}=0.6$ $h/{\rm Mpc}$, we obtain a 3.3% constraint on $S_8^\times = \sigma_8 \left(\Omega_m / 0.3\right)^{0.4} = 0.792^{+0.024}_{-0.028}$ from ACT data, as well as constraints on $S_8^\times(z)$ that probe structure formation over cosmic time. Our result is consistent with the early-universe extrapolation from primary CMB anisotropies measured by Planck PR4 within 1.2$\sigma$. Jointly fitting ACT and Planck lensing cross-correlations we obtain a 2.7% constraint of $S_8^\times = 0.776^{+0.019}_{-0.021}$, which is consistent with the Planck early-universe extrapolation within 2.1$\sigma$, with the lowest redshift bin showing the largest difference in mean. The latter may motivate further CMB lensing tomography analyses at $z<0.6$ to assess the impact of potential systematics or the consistency of the $\Lambda$CDM model over cosmic time., Comment: Prepared for submission to JCAP (47 pages, 13 figures)

We derive new constraints on the $E_G$ statistic as a test of gravity, combining the CMB lensing map estimated from Data Release 6 (DR6) of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope with SDSS BOSS CMASS and LOWZ galaxy data. We develop an analysis pipeline to measure the cross-correlation between CMB lensing maps and galaxy data, following a blinding policy and testing the approach through null and consistency checks. By testing the equivalence of the spatial and temporal gravitational potentials, the $E_G$ statistic can distinguish $\Lambda$CDM from alternative models of gravity. We find $E_G= 0.31^{+0.06}_{-0.05}$ for ACT and CMASS data at 68.28\% confidence level, and $E_G = 0.49^{+0.14}_{-0.11}$ for ACT and LOWZ. Systematic errors are estimated to be 3\% and 4\% respectively. Including CMB lensing information from Planck PR4 results in $E_G = 0.34^{+0.05}_{-0.05}$ with CMASS and $E_G= 0.43^{+0.11}_{-0.09}$ with LOWZ. These are consistent with predictions for the $\Lambda$CDM model that best fits the Planck CMB anisotropy and SDSS BOSS BAO, where $E_G^{\rm GR} (z_{\rm eff} = 0.555) = 0.401\pm 0.005$ for CMB lensing combined with CMASS and $E_G^{\rm GR} (z_{\rm eff} = 0.316) = 0.452\pm0.005$ combined with LOWZ. We also find $E_G$ to be scale independent, with PTE $>5\%$, as predicted by general relativity. The methods developed in this work are also applicable to improved future analyses with upcoming spectroscopic galaxy samples and CMB lensing measurements., Comment: 33 pages, 21 figures, prepared for submission to PRD

Light field (LF) imaging captures both angular and spatial light distributions, enabling advanced photographic techniques. However, micro-lens array (MLA)- based cameras face a spatial-angular resolution tradeoff due to a single shared sensor. We propose a novel light field framework for resolution enhancement, employing a modular approach. The first module generates a high-resolution, all-in-focus image. The second module, a texture transformer network, enhances the resolution of each light field perspective independently using the output of the first module as a reference image. The final module leverages light field regularity to jointly improve resolution across all LF image perspectives. Our approach demonstrates superior performance to existing methods in both qualitative and quantitative evaluations., Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, accepted in IEEE Conference on Signal Processing and Communications Applications

Network control theory (NCT) offers a robust analytical framework for understanding the influence of network topology on dynamic behaviors, enabling researchers to decipher how certain patterns of external control measures can steer system dynamics towards desired states. Distinguished from other structure-function methodologies, NCT's predictive capabilities can be coupled with deploying Graph Neural Networks (GNNs), which have demonstrated exceptional utility in various network-based learning tasks. However, the performance of GNNs heavily relies on the expressiveness of node features, and the lack of node features can greatly degrade their performance. Furthermore, many real-world systems may lack node-level information, posing a challenge for GNNs.To tackle this challenge, we introduce a novel approach, NCT-based Enhanced Feature Augmentation (NCT-EFA), that assimilates average controllability, along with other centrality indices, into the feature augmentation pipeline to enhance GNNs performance. Our evaluation of NCT-EFA, on six benchmark GNN models across two experimental setting. solely employing average controllability and in combination with additional centrality metrics. showcases an improved performance reaching as high as 11%. Our results demonstrate that incorporating NCT into feature enrichment can substantively extend the applicability and heighten the performance of GNNs in scenarios where node-level information is unavailable., Comment: Conference paper

In this paper, we study the problem of unsupervised graph representation learning by harnessing the control properties of dynamical networks defined on graphs. Our approach introduces a novel framework for contrastive learning, a widely prevalent technique for unsupervised representation learning. A crucial step in contrastive learning is the creation of 'augmented' graphs from the input graphs. Though different from the original graphs, these augmented graphs retain the original graph's structural characteristics. Here, we propose a unique method for generating these augmented graphs by leveraging the control properties of networks. The core concept revolves around perturbing the original graph to create a new one while preserving the controllability properties specific to networks and graphs. Compared to the existing methods, we demonstrate that this innovative approach enhances the effectiveness of contrastive learning frameworks, leading to superior results regarding the accuracy of the classification tasks. The key innovation lies in our ability to decode the network structure using these control properties, opening new avenues for unsupervised graph representation learning., Comment: Accepted in 2024 American Control Conference (ACC), July 8-12, 2024 in Toronto, ON, Canada

This paper introduces a set of customizable and novel cost functions that enable the user to easily specify desirable robot formations, such as a ``high-coverage'' infrastructure-inspection formation, while maintaining high relative pose estimation accuracy. The overall cost function balances the need for the robots to be close together for good ranging-based relative localization accuracy and the need for the robots to achieve specific tasks, such as minimizing the time taken to inspect a given area. The formations found by minimizing the aggregated cost function are evaluated in a coverage path planning task in simulation and experiment, where the robots localize themselves and unknown landmarks using a simultaneous localization and mapping algorithm based on the extended Kalman filter. Compared to an optimal formation that maximizes ranging-based relative localization accuracy, these formations significantly reduce the time to cover a given area with minimal impact on relative pose estimation accuracy., Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, submitted to IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems 2024

This article deals with the study of predicting the confinement effect of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) on concrete cylinder strength using metaheuristics-based artificial neural networks. A detailed database of 708 CFRP confined concrete cylinders is developed from previously published research with information on 8 parameters including geometrical parameters like the diameter (d) and height (h) of a cylinder, unconfined compressive strength of concrete (fco'), thickness (nt), the elastic modulus of CFRP (Ef), unconfined concrete strain confined concrete strain and the ultimate compressive strength of confined concrete fcc'. Three metaheuristic models are implemented including particle swarm optimization (PSO), grey wolf optimizer (GWO), and bat algorithm (BA). These algorithms are trained on the data using an objective function of mean square error and their predicted results are validated against the experimental studies and finite element analysis. The study shows that the hybrid model of PSO predicted the strength of CFRP-confined concrete cylinders with maximum accuracy of 99.13% and GWO predicted the results with an accuracy of 98.17%. The high accuracy of axial compressive strength predictions demonstrated that these prediction models are a reliable solution to the empirical methods. The prediction models are especially suitable for avoiding full-scale time-consuming experimental tests that make the process quick and economical., Comment: 28 Pages, 19 Figures