More Like this

1. Airfall volume of the 15 January 2022 eruption of Hunga volcano estimated from ocean color changes

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-024-01744-6  

   Kelly, Liam_J; Fauria, Kristen_E; Manga, Michael; Cronin, Shane_J; Latu’ila, Folauhola_Helina; Paredes-Mariño, Joali; Mittal, Tushar; Bennartz, Ralf (May 2024, Bulletin of Volcanology)

   Abstract On 15 January 2022, Hunga volcano erupted, creating an extensive and high-reaching umbrella cloud over the open ocean, hindering traditional isopach mapping and fallout volume estimation. In MODIS satellite imagery, ocean surface water was discolored around Hunga following the eruption, which we attribute to ash fallout from the umbrella cloud. By relating intensity of ocean discoloration to fall deposit thicknesses in the Kingdom of Tonga, we develop a methodology for estimating airfall volume over the open ocean. Ash thickness measurements from 41 locations are used to fit a linear relationship between ash thickness and ocean reflectance. This produces a minimum airfall volume estimate of$${1.8}_{-0.4}^{+0.3}$$ ${1.8}_{-0.4}^{+0.3}$km³. The whole eruption produced > 6.3 km³of uncompacted pyroclastic material on the seafloor and a caldera volume change of 6 km³DRE. Our fall estimates are consistent with the interpretation that most of the seafloor deposits were emplaced by gravity currents rather than fall deposits. Our proposed method does not account for the largest grain sizes, so is thus a minimum estimate. However, this new ocean-discoloration method provides an airfall volume estimate consistent with other independent measures of the plume and is thus effective for rapidly estimating fallout volumes in future volcanic eruptions over oceans. 

   more » « less
2. Measurement of the top quark pole mass using $$ \textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}} $$+jet events in the dilepton final state in proton-proton collisions at $$ \sqrt{s} $$ = 13 TeV

   https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP07(2023)077  

   Tumasyan, A.; Adam, W.; Andrejkovic, J. W.; Bergauer, T.; Chatterjee, S.; Damanakis, K.; Dragicevic, M.; Escalante Del Valle, A.; Hussain, P. S.; Jeitler, M.; et al (July 2023, Journal of High Energy Physics)

   A<sc>bstract</sc> A measurement of the top quark pole mass$$ {m}_{\textrm{t}}^{\textrm{pole}} $$ $m_t^{\text{pole}}$in events where a top quark-antiquark pair ($$ \textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}} $$ $t\overline{t}$) is produced in association with at least one additional jet ($$ \textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}} $$ $t\overline{t}$+jet) is presented. This analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data at$$ \sqrt{s} $$ $\sqrt{s}$= 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 36.3 fb⁻¹. Events with two opposite-sign leptons in the final state (e⁺e⁻,μ⁺μ⁻, e^±μ^∓) are analyzed. The reconstruction of the main observable and the event classification are optimized using multivariate analysis techniques based on machine learning. The production cross section is measured as a function of the inverse of the invariant mass of the$$ \textrm{t}\overline{\textrm{t}} $$ $t\overline{t}$+jet system at the parton level using a maximum likelihood unfolding. Given a reference parton distribution function (PDF), the top quark pole mass is extracted using the theoretical predictions at next-to-leading order. For the ABMP16NLO PDF, this results in$$ {m}_{\textrm{t}}^{\textrm{pole}} $$ $m_t^{\text{pole}}$= 172.93±1.36 GeV. 

   more » « less
3. Lower Bounds Against Sparse Symmetric Functions of ACC Circuits: Expanding the Reach of #SAT Algorithms

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00224-022-10106-8  

   Vyas, Nikhil; Williams, R_Ryan (November 2022, Theory of Computing Systems)

   Abstract We continue the program of proving circuit lower bounds via circuit satisfiability algorithms. So far, this program has yielded several concrete results, proving that functions in$$\mathsf {Quasi}\text {-}\mathsf {NP} = \mathsf {NTIME}[n^{(\log n)^{O(1)}}]$$ $\mathrm{Quasi}-\mathrm{NP}=\mathrm{NTIME}\left[n^{{\left(\log n\right)}^{O\left(1\right)}}\right]$and other complexity classes do not have small circuits (in the worst case and/or on average) from various circuit classes$$\mathcal { C}$$ $C$, by showing that$$\mathcal { C}$$ $C$admits non-trivial satisfiability and/or#SAT algorithms which beat exhaustive search by a minor amount. In this paper, we present a new strong lower bound consequence of having a non-trivial#SAT algorithm for a circuit class$${\mathcal C}$$ $C$. Say that a symmetric Boolean functionf(x₁,…,x_n) issparseif it outputs 1 onO(1) values of$${\sum }_{i} x_{i}$$ ${\sum }_i{x}_i$. We show that for every sparsef, and for all “typical”$$\mathcal { C}$$ $C$, faster#SAT algorithms for$$\mathcal { C}$$ $C$circuits imply lower bounds against the circuit class$$f \circ \mathcal { C}$$ $f\circ C$, which may bestrongerthan$$\mathcal { C}$$ $C$itself. In particular:#SAT algorithms forn^k-size$$\mathcal { C}$$ $C$-circuits running in 2ⁿ/n^ktime (for allk) implyNEXPdoes not have$$(f \circ \mathcal { C})$$ $(f\circ C)$-circuits of polynomial size.#SAT algorithms for$$2^{n^{{\varepsilon }}}$$ $2^{n^{\epsilon }}$-size$$\mathcal { C}$$ $C$-circuits running in$$2^{n-n^{{\varepsilon }}}$$ $2^{n-n^{\epsilon }}$time (for someε> 0) implyQuasi-NPdoes not have$$(f \circ \mathcal { C})$$ $(f\circ C)$-circuits of polynomial size. Applying#SAT algorithms from the literature, one immediate corollary of our results is thatQuasi-NPdoes not haveEMAJ∘ACC⁰∘THRcircuits of polynomial size, whereEMAJis the “exact majority” function, improving previous lower bounds againstACC⁰[Williams JACM’14] andACC⁰∘THR[Williams STOC’14], [Murray-Williams STOC’18]. This is the first nontrivial lower bound against such a circuit class. 

   more » « less
4. Size dependence- and induced transformations- of fractional quantum Hall effects under tilted magnetic fields

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22812-x  

   Wijewardena, U. Kushan; Nanayakkara, Tharanga R.; Kriisa, Annika; Reichl, Christian; Wegscheider, Werner; Mani, Ramesh G. (November 2022, Scientific Reports)

   Abstract Two-dimensional electron systems subjected to high transverse magnetic fields can exhibit Fractional Quantum Hall Effects (FQHE). In the GaAs/AlGaAs 2D electron system, a double degeneracy of Landau levels due to electron-spin, is removed by a small Zeeman spin splitting,$$g \mu _B B$$ $g{\mu }_{B}B$, comparable to the correlation energy. Then, a change of the Zeeman splitting relative to the correlation energy can lead to a re-ordering between spin polarized, partially polarized, and unpolarized many body ground states at a constant filling factor. We show here that tuning the spin energy can produce fractionally quantized Hall effect transitions that include both a change in$$\nu$$ $\nu$for the$$R_{xx}$$ $R_{\mathrm{xx}}$minimum, e.g., from$$\nu = 11/7$$ $\nu =11/7$to$$\nu = 8/5$$ $\nu =8/5$, and a corresponding change in the$$R_{xy}$$ $R_{\mathrm{xy}}$, e.g., from$$R_{xy}/R_{K} = (11/7)^{-1}$$ $R_{\mathrm{xy}}/R_K={(11/7)}^{-1}$to$$R_{xy}/R_{K} = (8/5)^{-1}$$ $R_{\mathrm{xy}}/R_K={(8/5)}^{-1}$, with increasing tilt angle. Further, we exhibit a striking size dependence in the tilt angle interval for the vanishing of the$$\nu = 4/3$$ $\nu =4/3$and$$\nu = 7/5$$ $\nu =7/5$resistance minima, including “avoided crossing” type lineshape characteristics, and observable shifts of$$R_{xy}$$ $R_{\mathrm{xy}}$at the$$R_{xx}$$ $R_{\mathrm{xx}}$minima- the latter occurring for$$\nu = 4/3, 7/5$$ $\nu =4/3,7/5$and the 10/7. The results demonstrate both size dependence and the possibility, not just of competition between different spin polarized states at the same$$\nu$$ $\nu$and$$R_{xy}$$ $R_{\mathrm{xy}}$, but also the tilt- or Zeeman-energy-dependent- crossover between distinct FQHE associated with different Hall resistances. 

   more » « less
5. Realizing tight-binding Hamiltonians using site-controlled coupled cavity arrays

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41034-x  

   Saxena, Abhi; Manna, Arnab; Trivedi, Rahul; Majumdar, Arka (December 2023, Nature Communications)

   Abstract Analog quantum simulators rely on programmable and scalable quantum devices to emulate Hamiltonians describing various physical phenomenon. Photonic coupled cavity arrays are a promising alternative platform for realizing such simulators, due to their potential for scalability, small size, and high-temperature operability. However, programmability and nonlinearity in photonic cavities remain outstanding challenges. Here, using a silicon photonic coupled cavity array made up of$$8$$ $8$high quality factor ($$Q$$ $Q$up to$$\, \sim 7.1\times {10}^{4}$$ $~7.1\times {10}^4$) resonators and equipped with specially designed thermo-optic island heaters for independent control of cavities, we demonstrate a programmable photonic cavity array in the telecom regime, implementing tight-binding Hamiltonians with access to the full eigenenergy spectrum. We report a$$\sim 50\%$$ $~50\%$reduction in the thermal crosstalk between neighboring sites of the cavity array compared to traditional heaters, and then present a control scheme to program the cavity array to a given tight-binding Hamiltonian. The ability to independently program high-Q photonic cavities, along with the compatibility of silicon photonics to high volume manufacturing opens new opportunities for scalable quantum simulation using telecom regime infrared photons. 

   more » « less