Counter machines and crystallographic structures

One way to depict a crystallographic structure is by a periodic (di)graph, i.e., a graph whose group of automorphisms has a translational subgroup of finite index acting freely on the structure. We establish a relationship between periodic graphs representing crystallographic structures and an infinite hierarchy of intersection languages \(\mathcal {DCL}_d,\,d=0,1,2,\ldots \), within the intersection classes of deterministic context-free languages. We introduce a class of counter machines that accept these languages, where the machines with d counters recognize the class \(\mathcal {DCL}_d\). An intersection of d languages in \(\mathcal {DCL}_1\) defines \(\mathcal {DCL}_d\). We prove that there is a one-to-one correspondence between sets of walks starting and ending in the same unit of a d-dimensional periodic (di)graph and the class of languages in \(\mathcal {DCL}_d\). The proof uses the following result: given a digraph \(\Delta \) and a group G, there is a unique digraph \(\Gamma \) such that \(G\le \mathrm{Aut}\,\Gamma ,\,G\) acts freely on the structure, and \(\Gamma /G \cong \Delta \).     

Throughput maximization for speed scaling with agreeable deadlines

We study the following energy-efficient scheduling problem. We are given a set of n jobs which have to be scheduled by a single processor whose speed can be varied dynamically. Each job \(J_j\) is characterized by a processing requirement (work) \(p_j\), a release date \(r_j\), and a deadline \(d_j\). We are also given a budget of energy E which must not be exceeded and our objective is to maximize the throughput (i.e., the number of jobs which are completed on time). We show that the problem can be solved optimally via dynamic programming in \(O(n^4 \log n \log P)\) time when all jobs have the same release date, where P is the sum of the processing requirements of the jobs. For the more general case with agreeable deadlines where the jobs can be ordered so that, for every \(i < j\), it holds that \(r_i \le r_j\) and \(d_i \le d_j\), we propose an optimal dynamic programming algorithm which runs in \(O(n^6 \log n \log P)\) time. In addition, we consider the weighted case where every job \(J_j\) is also associated with a weight \(w_j\) and we are interested in maximizing the weighted throughput (i.e., the total weight of the jobs which are completed on time). For this case, we show that the problem becomes \(\mathcal{NP}\)-hard in the ordinary sense even when all jobs have the same release date and we propose a pseudo-polynomial time algorithm for agreeable instances.     

Hybridized Discontinuous Galerkin Method for Elliptic Interface Problems: Error Estimates Under Low Regularity Assumptions of Solutions

New hybridized discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) methods for the interface problem for elliptic equations are proposed. Unknown functions of our schemes are \(u_h\) in elements and \(\hat{u}_h\) on inter-element edges. That is, we formulate our schemes without introducing the flux variable. We assume that subdomains \(\Omega _1\) and \(\Omega _2\) are polyhedral domains and that the interface \(\Gamma =\partial \Omega _1\cap \partial \Omega _2\) is polyhedral surface or polygon. Moreover, \(\Gamma \) is assumed to be expressed as the union of edges of some elements. We deal with the case where the interface is transversely connected with the boundary of the whole domain \(\overline{\Omega }=\overline{\Omega _1\cap \Omega _2}\). Consequently, the solution u of the interface problem may not have a sufficient regularity, say \(u\in H^2(\Omega )\) or \(u|_{\Omega _1}\in H^2(\Omega _1)\), \(u|_{\Omega _2}\in H^2(\Omega _2)\). We succeed in deriving optimal order error estimates in an HDG norm and the \(L^2\) norm under low regularity assumptions of solutions, say \(u|_{\Omega _1}\in H^{1+s}(\Omega _1)\) and \(u|_{\Omega _2}\in H^{1+s}(\Omega _2)\) for some \(s\in (1/2,1]\), where \(H^{1+s}\) denotes the fractional order Sobolev space. Numerical examples to validate our results are also presented.     

Recursive Computation of Logarithmic Derivatives,Ratios, and Products of Spheroidal Harmonics and Modified Bessel Functions and Applications

Spheroidal harmonics and modified Bessel functions have wide applications in scientific and engineering computing. Recursive methods are developed to compute the logarithmic derivatives, ratios, and products of the prolate spheroidal harmonics (\(P_n^m(x)\), \(Q_n^m(x)\), \(n\ge m\ge 0\), \(x>1\)), the oblate spheroidal harmonics (\(P_n^m(ix)\), \(Q_n^m(ix)\), \(n\ge m\ge 0\), \(x>0\)), and the modified Bessel functions (\(I_n(x)\), \(K_n(x)\), \(n\ge 0\), \(x>0\)) in order to avoid direct evaluation of these functions that may easily cause overflow/underflow for high degree/order and for extreme argument. Stability analysis shows the proposed recursive methods are stable for realistic degree/order and argument values. Physical examples in electrostatics are given to validate the recursive methods.     

Multilevel quantum Otto heat engines with identical particles

A quantum Otto heat engine is studied with multilevel identical particles trapped in one-dimensional box potential as working substance. The symmetrical wave function for Bosons and the anti-symmetrical wave function for Fermions are considered. In two-particle case, we focus on the ratios of \(W^i\) (\(i=B,F\)) to \(W_s\), where \(W^\mathrm{B}\) and \(W^\mathrm{F}\) are the work done by two Bosons and Fermions, respectively, and \(W_s\) is the work output of a single particle under the same conditions. Due to the symmetrical of the wave functions, the ratios are not equal to 2. Three different regimes, low-temperature regime, high-temperature regime, and intermediate-temperature regime, are analyzed, and the effects of energy level number and the differences between the two baths are calculated. In the multiparticle case, we calculate the ratios of \(W^i_M/M\) to \(W_s\), where \(W^i_M/M\) can be seen as the average work done by a single particle in multiparticle heat engine. For other working substances whose energy spectrum has the form of \(E_n\sim n^2\), the results are similar. For the case \(E_n\sim n\), two different conclusions are obtained.     

Indistinguishability of pure orthogonal product states by LOCC

We construct two sets of incomplete and extendible quantum pure orthogonal product states (POPS) in general bipartite high-dimensional quantum systems, which are all indistinguishable by local operations and classical communication. The first set of POPS is composed of two parts which are \(\mathcal {C}^m\otimes \mathcal {C}^{n_1}\) with \(5\le m\le n_1\) and \(\mathcal {C}^m\otimes \mathcal {C}^{n_2}\) with \(5\le m \le n_2\), where \(n_1\) is odd and \(n_2\) is even. The second one is in \(\mathcal {C}^m\otimes \mathcal {C}^n\) \((m, n\ge 4)\). Some subsets of these two sets can be extended into complete sets that local indistinguishability can be decided by noncommutativity which quantifies the quantumness of a quantum ensemble. Our study shows quantum nonlocality without entanglement.     

Connecting unextendible maximally entangled base with partial Hadamard matrices

We study the unextendible maximally entangled bases (UMEB) in \(\mathbb {C}^{d}\bigotimes \mathbb {C}^{d}\) and connect the problem to the partial Hadamard matrices. We show that for a given special UMEB in \(\mathbb {C}^{d}\bigotimes \mathbb {C}^{d}\), there is a partial Hadamard matrix which cannot be extended to a Hadamard matrix in \(\mathbb {C}^{d}\). As a corollary, any \((d-1)\times d\) partial Hadamard matrix can be extended to a Hadamard matrix, which answers a conjecture about \(d=5\). We obtain that for any d there is a UMEB except for \(d=p\ \text {or}\ 2p\), where \(p\equiv 3\mod 4\) and p is a prime. The existence of different kinds of constructions of UMEBs in \(\mathbb {C}^{nd}\bigotimes \mathbb {C}^{nd}\) for any \(n\in \mathbb {N}\) and \(d=3\times 5 \times 7\) is also discussed.     

Good and asymptotically good quantum codes derived from algebraic geometry

In this paper, we construct several new families of quantum codes with good parameters. These new quantum codes are derived from (classical) t-point (\(t\ge 1\)) algebraic geometry (AG) codes by applying the Calderbank–Shor–Steane (CSS) construction. More precisely, we construct two classical AG codes \(C_1\) and \(C_2\) such that \(C_1\subset C_2\), applying after the well-known CSS construction to \(C_1\) and \(C_2\). Many of these new codes have large minimum distances when compared with their code lengths as well as they also have small Singleton defects. As an example, we construct a family \({[[46, 2(t_2 - t_1), d]]}_{25}\) of quantum codes, where \(t_1 , t_2\) are positive integers such that \(1<t_1< t_2 < 23\) and \(d\ge \min \{ 46 - 2t_2 , 2t_1 - 2 \}\), of length \(n=46\), with minimum distance in the range \(2\le d\le 20\), having Singleton defect at most four. Additionally, by applying the CSS construction to sequences of t-point (classical) AG codes constructed in this paper, we generate sequences of asymptotically good quantum codes.     

No nexiste nce of n-qubit u nexte ndible product bases of size $$2^ n-5$$2 n-5

It is known that the n-qubit system has no unextendible product bases (UPBs) of cardinality \(2^n-1\), \(2^n-2\) and \(2^n-3\). On the other hand, the n-qubit UPBs of cardinality \(2^n-4\) exist for all \(n\ge 3\). We prove that they do not exist for cardinality \(2^n-5\).     

Pure state ‘really’ informationally complete with rank-1 POVM

What is the minimal number of elements in a rank-1 positive operator-valued measure (POVM) which can uniquely determine any pure state in d-dimensional Hilbert space \(\mathcal {H}_d\)? The known result is that the number is no less than \(3d-2\). We show that this lower bound is not tight except for \(d=2\) or 4. Then we give an upper bound \(4d-3\). For \(d=2\), many rank-1 POVMs with four elements can determine any pure states in \(\mathcal {H}_2\). For \(d=3\), we show eight is the minimal number by construction. For \(d=4\), the minimal number is in the set of \(\{10,11,12,13\}\). We show that if this number is greater than 10, an unsettled open problem can be solved that three orthonormal bases cannot distinguish all pure states in \(\mathcal {H}_4\). For any dimension d, we construct \(d+2k-2\) adaptive rank-1 positive operators for the reconstruction of any unknown pure state in \(\mathcal {H}_d\), where \(1\le k \le d\).     

Efficient parallelizable hashing using small non-compressing primitives

A well-established method of constructing hash functions is to base them on non-compressing primitives, such as one-way functions or permutations. In this work, we present \(S^r\), an \(rn\)-to-\(n\)-bit compression function (for \(r\ge 1\)) making \(2r-1\) calls to \(n\)-to-\(n\)-bit primitives (random functions or permutations). \(S^r\) compresses its inputs at a rate (the amount of message blocks per primitive call) up to almost 1/2, and it outperforms all existing schemes with respect to rate and/or the size of underlying primitives. For instance, instantiated with the \(1600\)-bit permutation of NIST’s SHA-3 hash function standard, it offers about \(800\)-bit security at a rate of almost 1/2, while SHA-3-512 itself achieves only \(512\)-bit security at a rate of about \(1/3\). We prove that \(S^r\) achieves asymptotically optimal collision security against semi-adaptive adversaries up to almost \(2^{n/2}\) queries and that it can be made preimage secure up to \(2^n\) queries using a simple tweak.     

A Superconvergent HDG Method for Distributed Control of Convection Diffusion PDEs

We consider a distributed optimal control problem governed by an elliptic convection diffusion PDE, and propose a hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin method to approximate the solution. We use polynomials of degree \(k+1\) to approximate the state and dual state, and polynomials of degree \(k \ge 0\) to approximate their fluxes. Moreover, we use polynomials of degree k to approximate the numerical traces of the state and dual state on the faces, which are the only globally coupled unknowns. We prove optimal a priori error estimates for all variables when \( k \ge 0 \). Furthermore, from the point of view of the number of degrees of freedom of the globally coupled unknowns, this method achieves superconvergence for the state, dual state, and control when \(k\ge 1\). We illustrate our convergence results with numerical experiments.     

Two Mixed Finite Element Methods for Time-Fractional Diffusion Equations

Based on spatial conforming and nonconforming mixed finite element methods combined with classical L1 time stepping method, two fully-discrete approximate schemes with unconditional stability are first established for the time-fractional diffusion equation with Caputo derivative of order \(0<\alpha <1\). As to the conforming scheme, the spatial global superconvergence and temporal convergence order of \(O(h^2+\tau ^{2-\alpha })\) for both the original variable u in \(H^1\)-norm and the flux \(\vec {p}=\nabla u\) in \(L^2\)-norm are derived by virtue of properties of bilinear element and interpolation postprocessing operator, where h and \(\tau \) are the step sizes in space and time, respectively. At the same time, the optimal convergence rates in time and space for the nonconforming scheme are also investigated by some special characters of \(\textit{EQ}_1^{\textit{rot}}\) nonconforming element, which manifests that convergence orders of \(O(h+\tau ^{2-\alpha })\) and \(O(h^2+\tau ^{2-\alpha })\) for the original variable u in broken \(H^1\)-norm and \(L^2\)-norm, respectively, and approximation for the flux \(\vec {p}\) converging with order \(O(h+\tau ^{2-\alpha })\) in \(L^2\)-norm. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the theoretical analysis.     

Master Lovas–Andai and equivalent formulas verifying the $$\frac{8}{33}$$ two-qubit Hilbert–Schmidt separability probability and companion rational-valued conjectures

We begin by investigating relationships between two forms of Hilbert–Schmidt two-rebit and two-qubit “separability functions”—those recently advanced by Lovas and Andai (J Phys A Math Theor 50(29):295303, 2017), and those earlier presented by Slater (J Phys A 40(47):14279, 2007). In the Lovas–Andai framework, the independent variable \(\varepsilon \in [0,1]\) is the ratio \(\sigma (V)\) of the singular values of the \(2 \times 2\) matrix \(V=D_2^{1/2} D_1^{-1/2}\) formed from the two \(2 \times 2\) diagonal blocks (\(D_1, D_2\)) of a \(4 \times 4\) density matrix \(D= \left||\rho _{ij}\right||\). In the Slater setting, the independent variable \(\mu \) is the diagonal-entry ratio \(\sqrt{\frac{\rho _{11} \rho _ {44}}{\rho _ {22} \rho _ {33}}}\)—with, of central importance, \(\mu =\varepsilon \) or \(\mu =\frac{1}{\varepsilon }\) when both \(D_1\) and \(D_2\) are themselves diagonal. Lovas and Andai established that their two-rebit “separability function” \(\tilde{\chi }_1 (\varepsilon )\) (\(\approx \varepsilon \)) yields the previously conjectured Hilbert–Schmidt separability probability of \(\frac{29}{64}\). We are able, in the Slater framework (using cylindrical algebraic decompositions [CAD] to enforce positivity constraints), to reproduce this result. Further, we newly find its two-qubit, two-quater[nionic]-bit and “two-octo[nionic]-bit” counterparts, \(\tilde{\chi _2}(\varepsilon ) =\frac{1}{3} \varepsilon ^2 \left( 4-\varepsilon ^2\right) \), \(\tilde{\chi _4}(\varepsilon ) =\frac{1}{35} \varepsilon ^4 \left( 15 \varepsilon ^4-64 \varepsilon ^2+84\right) \) and \(\tilde{\chi _8} (\varepsilon )= \frac{1}{1287}\varepsilon ^8 \left( 1155 \varepsilon ^8-7680 \varepsilon ^6+20160 \varepsilon ^4-25088 \varepsilon ^2+12740\right) \). These immediately lead to predictions of Hilbert–Schmidt separability/PPT-probabilities of \(\frac{8}{33}\), \(\frac{26}{323}\) and \(\frac{44482}{4091349}\), in full agreement with those of the “concise formula” (Slater in J Phys A 46:445302, 2013), and, additionally, of a “specialized induced measure” formula. Then, we find a Lovas–Andai “master formula,” \(\tilde{\chi _d}(\varepsilon )= \frac{\varepsilon ^d \Gamma (d+1)^3 \, _3\tilde{F}_2\left( -\frac{d}{2},\frac{d}{2},d;\frac{d}{2}+1,\frac{3 d}{2}+1;\varepsilon ^2\right) }{\Gamma \left( \frac{d}{2}+1\right) ^2}\), encompassing both even and odd values of d. Remarkably, we are able to obtain the \(\tilde{\chi _d}(\varepsilon )\) formulas, \(d=1,2,4\), applicable to full (9-, 15-, 27-) dimensional sets of density matrices, by analyzing (6-, 9, 15-) dimensional sets, with not only diagonal \(D_1\) and \(D_2\), but also an additional pair of nullified entries. Nullification of a further pair still leads to X-matrices, for which a distinctly different, simple Dyson-index phenomenon is noted. C. Koutschan, then, using his HolonomicFunctions program, develops an order-4 recurrence satisfied by the predictions of the several formulas, establishing their equivalence. A two-qubit separability probability of \(1-\frac{256}{27 \pi ^2}\) is obtained based on the operator monotone function \(\sqrt{x}\), with the use of \(\tilde{\chi _2}(\varepsilon )\).     

Speed scaling problems with memory/cache consideration

Speed scaling problems consider energy-efficient job scheduling in processors by adjusting the speed to reduce energy consumption, where power consumption is a convex function of speed (usually, \(P(s) =s^{\alpha }, \alpha =2,3\)). In this work, we study speed scaling problems considering memory/cache. Each job needs some time for memory operation when it is fetched from memory,, and needs less time if fetched from the cache. The objective is to minimize energy consumption while satisfying the time constraints of the jobs. Two models are investigated, the non-cache model and the with-cache model. The non-cache model is a variant of the ideal model, where each job i needs a fixed \(c_i\) time for its memory operation; the with-cache model further considers the cache, a memory device with much faster access time but limited space. The uniform with-cache model is a special case of the with-cache model in which all \(c_i\) values are the same. We provide an \(O(n^3)\) time algorithm and an improved \(O(n^2\log n)\) time algorithm to compute the optimal solution in the non-cache model. For the with-cache model, we prove that it is NP-complete to compute the optimal solution. For the uniform with-cache model with agreeable jobs (later-released jobs do not have earlier deadlines), we derive an \(O(n^4)\) time algorithm to compute the optimal schedule, while for the general case we propose a \((2\alpha \frac{g}{g-1})^{\alpha }/2\)-approximation algorithm in a resource augmentation setting in which the memory operation time can accelerate by at most g times.     

Entanglement witness criteria of strong-<Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-separability for multipartite quantum states

Let \(H_{1}, H_{2},\ldots ,H_{n}\) be separable complex Hilbert spaces with \(\dim H_{i}\ge 2\) and \(n\ge 2\). Assume that \(\rho \) is a state in \(H=H_1\otimes H_2\otimes \cdots \otimes H_n\). \(\rho \) is called strong-k-separable \((2\le k\le n)\) if \(\rho \) is separable for any k-partite division of H. In this paper, an entanglement witnesses criterion of strong-k-separability is obtained, which says that \(\rho \) is not strong-k-separable if and only if there exist a k-division space \(H_{m_{1}}\otimes \cdots \otimes H_{m_{k}}\) of H, a finite-rank linear elementary operator positive on product states \(\Lambda :\mathcal {B}(H_{m_{2}}\otimes \cdots \otimes H_{m_{k}})\rightarrow \mathcal {B}(H_{m_{1}})\) and a state \(\rho _{0}\in \mathcal {S}(H_{m_{1}}\otimes H_{m_{1}})\), such that \(\mathrm {Tr}(W\rho )<0\), where \(W=(\mathrm{Id}\otimes \Lambda ^{\dagger })\rho _{0}\) is an entanglement witness. In addition, several different methods of constructing entanglement witnesses for multipartite states are also given.     

Gauge Neural Network with Z(2) Synaptic Variables: Phase Structure and Simulation of Learning and Recalling Patterns

We study the Z(2) gauge-invariant neural network which is defined on a partially connected random network and involves Z(2) neuron variables \(S_i\) (\(=\pm \)1) and Z(2) synaptic connection (gauge) variables \(J_{ij}\) (\(=\pm \)1). Its energy consists of the Hopfield term \(-c_1S_iJ_{ij}S_j\), double Hopfield term \(-c_2 S_iJ_{ij}J_{jk} S_k\), and the reverberation (triple Hopfield) term \(-c_3 J_{ij}J_{jk}J_{ki}\) of synaptic self interactions. For the case \(c_2=0\), its phase diagram in the \(c_3-c_1\) plane has been studied both for the symmetric couplings \(J_{ij}=J_{ji}\) and asymmetric couplings (\(J_{ij}\) and \(J_{ji}\) are independent); it consists of the Higgs, Coulomb and confinement phases, each of which is characterized by the ability of learning and/or recalling patterns. In this paper, we consider the phase diagram for the case of nonvanishing \(c_2\), and examine its effect. We find that the \(c_2\) term enlarges the region of Higgs phase and generates a new second-order transition. We also simulate the dynamical process of learning patterns of \(S_i\) and recalling them and measure the performance directly by overlaps of \(S_i\). We discuss the difference in performance for the cases of Z(2) variables and real variables for synaptic connections.     

The local–global conjecture for scheduling with non-linear cost

We consider the classical scheduling problem on a single machine, on which we need to schedule sequentially n given jobs. Every job j has a processing time \(p_j\) and a priority weight \(w_j\), and for a given schedule a completion time \(C_j\). In this paper, we consider the problem of minimizing the objective value \(\sum _j w_j C_j^\beta \) for some fixed constant \(\beta >0\). This non-linearity is motivated for example by the learning effect of a machine improving its efficiency over time, or by the speed scaling model. For \(\beta =1\), the well-known Smith’s rule that orders job in the non-increasing order of \(w_j/p_j\) gives the optimum schedule. However, for \(\beta \ne 1\), the complexity status of this problem is open. Among other things, a key issue here is that the ordering between a pair of jobs is not well defined, and might depend on where the jobs lie in the schedule and also on the jobs between them. We investigate this question systematically and substantially generalize the previously known results in this direction. These results lead to interesting new dominance properties among schedules which lead to huge speed up in exact algorithms for the problem. An experimental study evaluates the impact of these properties on the exact algorithm A*.     

New q-ary quantum MDS codes with distances bigger than $$\frac{ q}{2}$$

The construction of quantum MDS codes has been studied by many authors. We refer to the table in page 1482 of (IEEE Trans Inf Theory 61(3):1474–1484, 2015) for known constructions. However, there have been constructed only a few q-ary quantum MDS \([[n,n-2d+2,d]]_q\) codes with minimum distances \(d>\frac{q}{2}\) for sparse lengths \(n>q+1\). In the case \(n=\frac{q^2-1}{m}\) where \(m|q+1\) or \(m|q-1\) there are complete results. In the case \(n=\frac{q^2-1}{m}\) while \(m|q^2-1\) is neither a factor of \(q-1\) nor \(q+1\), no q-ary quantum MDS code with \(d> \frac{q}{2}\) has been constructed. In this paper we propose a direct approach to construct Hermitian self-orthogonal codes over \(\mathbf{F}_{q^2}\). Then we give some new q-ary quantum codes in this case. Moreover many new q-ary quantum MDS codes with lengths of the form \(\frac{w(q^2-1)}{u}\) and minimum distances \(d > \frac{q}{2}\) are presented.