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Solar Orbiter strives to unveil how the Sun controls and shapes the heliosphere and fills it with energetic particle radiation. To this end, its Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) has now been in operation, providing excellent data, for just over a year. EPD measures suprathermal and energetic particles in the energy range from a few keV up to (near-) relativistic energies (few MeV for electrons and about 500 MeV/nuc for ions). We present an overview of the initial results from the first year of operations and we provide a first assessment of issues and limitations. During this first year of operations of the Solar Orbiter mission, EPD has recorded several particle events at distances between 0.5 and 1 au from the Sun. We present dynamic and time-averaged energy spectra for ions that were measured with a combination of all four EPD sensors, namely: the SupraThermal Electron and Proton sensor (STEP), the Electron Proton Telescope (EPT), the Suprathermal Ion Spectrograph (SIS), and the High-Energy Telescope (HET) as well as the associated energy spectra for electrons measured with STEP and EPT. We illustrate the capabilities of the EPD suite using the 10-11 December 2020 solar particle event. This event showed an enrichment of heavy ions as well as $^3$He, for which we also present dynamic spectra measured with SIS. The high anisotropy of electrons at the onset of the event and its temporal evolution is also shown using data from these sensors. We discuss the ongoing in-flight calibration and a few open instrumental issues using data from the 21 July and the 10-11 December 2020 events and give guidelines and examples for the usage of the EPD data. We explain how spacecraft operations may affect EPD data and we present a list of such time periods in the appendix. A list of the most significant particle enhancements as observed by EPT during this first year is also provided.

The Solar Electron and Proton Telescope (SEPT) aboard the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) is designed to provide the three-dimensional distribution of energetic electrons and protons with good energy and time resolution. Each SEPT instrument consists of two double-ended magnet/foil particle telescopes which cleanly separate and measure electrons in the energy range from 30 keV to 400 keV and protons from 60 keV to 7000 keV. Anisotropy information on a non spinning spacecraft is provided by two separate but identical instruments: SEPT-E aligned along the Parker spiral magnetic field in the ecliptic plane along looking both towards and away from the Sun, and SEPT-NS aligned vertical to the ecliptic plane looking towards North and South. The dual set-up refers to two adjacent sensor apertures for each of the four viewing directions SUN, ANTISUN, NORTH, and SOUTH: one for protons, one for electrons. In this contribution a simulation of SEPT utilizing the GEANT4 toolkit has been set up with an extended instrument model in order to calculate improved response functions of the four different telescopes. This will help to understand and correct instrumental effects in the measurements.

Context. Interplanetary (IP) shocks are known to be accelerators of energetic charged particles observed in-situ in the heliosphere. However, the acceleration of near-relativistic electrons by shocks in the interplanetary medium is often questioned. On 9 August 2011 a Corotating Interaction Region (CIR) passed STEREO B (STB) that resulted in a flux increase in the electron and ion channels of the Solar Electron and Proton Telescope (SEPT). Because electron measurements in the few keV to several 100 keV range rely on the so-called magnet foil technique, which is utilized by SEPT, ions can contribute to the electron channels. Aims. We aim to investigate whether the flux increase in the electron channels of SEPT during the CIR event on 9 August 2011 is caused by ion contamination only. Methods. We compute the SEPT response functions for protons and helium utilizing an updated GEANT4 model of SEPT. The CIR energetic particle ion spectra for protons and helium are assumed to follow a Band function in energy per nucleon with a constant helium to proton ratio. Results. Our analysis leads to a helium to proton ratio of 16.9% and a proton flux following a Band function with the parameters $I_0 = 1.24 \cdot 10^4$ / (cm2 s sr MeV/nuc.), $E_c = 79$ keV/nuc. and spectral indices of $\gamma_1 = -0.94$ and $\gamma_2 = -3.80$ which are in good agreement with measurements by the Suprathermal Ion Telescope (SIT) aboard STB. Conclusions. Since our results explain the SEPT measurements, we conclude that no significant amount of electrons were accelerated between $55$ keV and $425$ keV by the CIR.

Solar Orbiter is a joint ESA-NASA mission planed for launch in October 2018. The science payload includes remote-sensing and in-situ instrumentation designed with the primary goal of understanding how the Sun creates and controls the heliosphere. The spacecraft will follow an elliptical orbit around the Sun, with perihelion as close as 0.28 AU. During the late orbit phase the orbital plane will reach inclinations above 30 degrees, allowing direct observations of the solar polar regions. The Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) is an instrument suite consisting of several sensors measuring electrons, protons and ions over a broad energy interval (2 keV to 15 MeV for electrons, 3 keV to 100 MeV for protons and few tens of keV/nuc to 450 MeV/nuc for ions), providing composition, spectra, timing and anisotropy information. We present an overview of Solar Orbiter from the energetic particle perspective, summarizing the capabilities of EPD and the opportunities that these new observations will provide for understanding how energetic particles are accelerated during solar eruptions and how they propagate through the Heliosphere., Comment: XXV ECRS 2016 Proceedings - eConf C16-09-04.3

Understanding the nature of the interaction at the graphene/metal interfaces is the basis for graphene-based electron- and spin-transport devices. Here we investigate the hybridization between graphene- and metal-derived electronic states by studying the changes induced through intercalation of a pseudomorphic monolayer of Cu in between graphene and Ir(111), using scanning tunnelling microscopy and photoelectron spectroscopy in combination with density functional theory calculations. We observe the modifications in the band structure by the intercalation process and its concomitant changes in the charge distribution at the interface. Through a state-selective analysis of band hybridization, we are able to determine their contributions to the valence band of graphene giving rise to the gap opening. Our methodology reveals the mechanisms that are responsible for the modification of the electronic structure of graphene at the Dirac point, and permits to predict the electronic structure of other graphene-metal interfaces., Comment: manuscript and supplementary material

We show how to extract the scaling behavior of quantum walks using the renormalization group (RG). We introduce the method by efficiently reproducing well-known results on the one-dimensional lattice. As a nontrivial model, we apply this method to the dual Sierpinski gasket and obtain its exact, closed system of RG-recursions. Numerical iteration suggests that under rescaling the system length, $L^{\prime}=2L$, characteristic times rescale as $t^{\prime}=2^{d_{w}}t$ with the exact walk exponent $d_{w}=\log_{2}\sqrt{5}=1.1609\ldots$. Despite the lack of translational invariance, this is very close to the ballistic spreading, $d_{w}=1$, found for regular lattices. However, we argue that an extended interpretation of the traditional RG formalism will be needed to obtain scaling exponents analytically. Direct simulations confirm our RG-prediction for $d_w$ and furthermore reveal an immensely rich phenomenology for the spreading of the quantum walk on the gasket. Invariably, quantum interference localizes the walk completely with a site-access probability that declines with a powerlaw from the initial site, in contrast with a classical random walk, which would pass all sites with certainty., Comment: 10 pages, revtex4, for more information, see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

The "abstract search algorithm" is a well known quantum method to find a marked vertex in a graph. It has been applied with success to searching algorithms for the hypercube and the two-dimensional grid. In this work we provide an example for which that method fails to provide the best algorithm in terms of time complexity. We analyze search algorithms in degree-3 hierarchical networks using quantum walks driven by non-groverian coins. Our conclusions are based on numerical simulations, but the hierarchical structures of the graphs seems to allow analytical results., Comment: IEEE Information Theory Workshop 2011

Percolation on a one-dimensional lattice and fractals such as the Sierpinski gasket is typically considered to be trivial because they percolate only at full bond density. By dressing up such lattices with small-world bonds, a novel percolation transition with explosive cluster growth can emerge at a nontrivial critical point. There, the usual order parameter, describing the probability of any node to be part of the largest cluster, jumps instantly to a finite value. Here, we provide a simple example of this transition in form of a small-world network consisting of a one-dimensional lattice combined with a hierarchy of long-range bonds that reveals many features of the transition in a mathematically rigorous manner., Comment: RevTex, 5 pages, 4 eps-figs, and Mathematica Notebook as Supplement included. Final version, with several corrections and improvements. For related work, see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

Decoupling of the graphene layer from the ferromagnetic substrate via intercalation of sp metal has recently been proposed as an effective way to realize single-layer graphene-based spin-filter. Here, the structural and electronic properties of the prototype system, graphene/Al/Ni(111), are investigated via combination of electron diffraction and spectroscopic methods. These studies are accompanied by state-of-the-art electronic structure calculations. The properties of this prospective Al-intercalation-like system and its possible implementations in future graphene-based devices are discussed., Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, and supplementary material

The vertex-cover problem on the Hanoi networks HN3 and HN5 is analyzed with an exact renormalization group and parallel-tempering Monte Carlo simulations. The grand canonical partition function of the equivalent hard-core repulsive lattice-gas problem is recast first as an Ising-like canonical partition function, which allows for a closed set of renormalization group equations. The flow of these equations is analyzed for the limit of infinite chemical potential, at which the vertex-cover problem is attained. The relevant fixed point and its neighborhood are analyzed, and non-trivial results are obtained both, for the coverage as well as for the ground state entropy density, which indicates the complex structure of the solution space. Using special hierarchy-dependent operators in the renormalization group and Monte-Carlo simulations, structural details of optimal configurations are revealed. These studies indicate that the optimal coverages (or packings) are not related by a simple symmetry. Using a clustering analysis of the solutions obtained in the Monte Carlo simulations, a complex solution space structure is revealed for each system size. Nevertheless, in the thermodynamic limit, the solution landscape is dominated by one huge set of very similar solutions., Comment: RevTex, 24 pages; many corrections in text and figures; final version; for related information, see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

Ground states of Ising spin glasses on fully connected graphs are studied for a broadly distributed bond family. In particular, bonds $J$ distributed according to a Levy distribution P(J)\propto 1/|J|^{1+\alpha}, |J|>1, are investigated for a range of powers \alpha. The results are compared with those for the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick (SK) model, where bonds are Gaussian distributed. In particular, we determine the variation of the ground state energy densities with \alpha, their finite-size corrections, measure their fluctuations, and analyze the local field distribution. We find that the energies themselves at infinite system size attain universally the Parisi-energy of the SK as long as the second moment of P(J) exists (\alpha>2), and compare favorably with recent one-step replica symmetry breaking predictions well below \alpha=2. At and just below \alpha=2, the simulations deviate significantly from theoretical expectations. The finite-size investigation reveals that the corrections exponent \omega decays from the SK value \omega_{SK}=2/3 already well above \alpha=2, at which point it reaches a minimum. This result is justified with a speculative calculation of a random energy model with Levy bonds. The exponent \rho that describes the variations of the ground state energy fluctuations with system size decays monotonically from its SK value over the entire range of \alpha and apparently vanishes at \alpha=1., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. For related information, see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

Here we present an angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES), x-ray absorption spec-troscopy (XAS), and density-functional theory (DFT) investigations of water and ammonia ad-sorption on graphene/Ni(111). Our results on graphene/Ni(111) reveal the existence of interface states, originating from the strong hybridization of the graphene {\pi} and spin-polarized Ni 3d valence band states. ARPES and XAS data of the H2O (NH3)/graphene/Ni(111) system give an information about the kind of interaction between adsorbed molecules and graphene on Ni(111). The presented experimental data are compared with the results obtained in the framework of the DFT approach., Comment: accepted in Nanoscale Research Letters; 16 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables

The transport of quantum electrons through hierarchical lattices is of interest because such lattices have some properties of both regular lattices and random systems. We calculate the electron transmission as a function of energy in the tight binding approximation for two related Hanoi networks. HN3 is a Hanoi network with every site having three bonds. HN5 has additional bonds added to HN3 to make the average number of bonds per site equal to five. We present a renormalization group approach to solve the matrix equation involved in this quantum transport calculation. We observe band gaps in HN3, while no such band gaps are observed in linear networks or in HN5., Comment: 15 pages, RevTex, 10 figures, for related work, see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

The Ising model with ferromagnetic couplings on the Hanoi networks is analyzed with an exact renormalization group. In particular, the fixed-points are determined and the renormalization-group flow for certain initial conditions is analyzed. Hanoi networks combine a one-dimensional lattice structure with a hierarchy of small-world bonds to create a mix of geometric and mean-field properties. Generically, the small-world bonds result in non-universal behavior, i.e. fixed points and scaling exponents that depend on temperature and the initial choice of coupling strengths. It is shown that a diversity of different behaviors can be observed with seemingly small changes in the structure of the networks. Defining interpolating families of such networks, we find tunable transitions between regimes with power-law and certain essential singularities in the critical scaling of the correlation length, similar to the so-called inverted Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition previously observed only in scale-free or dense networks., Comment: 13 pages, revtex, 12 fig. incl.; fixed confusing labels, published version. For related publications, see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

The average ground state energies for spin glasses on Bethe lattices of connectivities r=3,...,15 are studied numerically for a Gaussian bond distribution. The Extremal Optimization heuristic is employed which provides high-quality approximations to ground states. The energies obtained from extrapolation to the thermodynamic limit smoothly approach the ground-state energy of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model for r->\infty. Consistently for all values of r in this study, finite-size corrections are found to decay approximately with ~N^{-4/5}. The possibility of ~N^{-2/3} corrections, found previously for Bethe lattices with a bimodal +-J bond distribution and also for the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model, are constrained to the additional assumption of very specific higher-order terms. Instance-to-instance fluctuations in the ground state energy appear to be asymmetric up to the limit of the accuracy of our heuristic. The data analysis provides insights into the origin of trivial fluctuations when using continuous bonds and/or sparse networks., Comment: RevTex4, 9 pages, 15 eps-figs included. More extensive analysis of finite-size corrections; final version. For related information, see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

The far-from-equilibrium dynamics of glassy systems share important phenomenological traits. A transition is generally observed from a time-homogeneous dynamical regime to an aging regime where physical changes occur intermittently and, on average, at a decreasing rate. It has been suggested that a global change of the independent time variable to its logarithm may render the aging dynamics homogeneous: for colloids, this entails diffusion but on a logarithmic time scale. Our novel analysis of experimental colloid data confirms that the mean square displacement grows linearly in time at low densities and shows that it grows linearly in the logarithm of time at high densities. Correspondingly, pairs of particles initially in close contact survive as pairs with a probability which decays exponentially in either time or its logarithm. The form of the Probability Density Function of the displacements shows that long-ranged spatial correlations are very long-lived in dense colloids. A phenomenological stochastic model is then introduced which relies on the growth and collapse of strongly correlated clusters ("dynamic heterogeneity"), and which reproduces the full spectrum of observed colloidal behaviors depending on the form assumed for the probability that a cluster collapses during a Monte Carlo update. In the limit where large clusters dominate, the collapse rate is ~1/t, implying a homogeneous, log-Poissonian process that qualitatively reproduces the experimental results for dense colloids. Finally an analytical toy-model is discussed to elucidate the strong dependence of the simulation results on the integrability (or lack thereof) of the cluster collapse probability function., Comment: 6 pages, extensively revised, final version; for related work, see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/ or http://www.fysik.sdu.dk/staff/staff-vip/pas-personal.html

The bond-percolation properties of the Hanoi networks are analyzed with the renormalization group. Unlike scale-free networks, they are meant to provide an analytically tractable interpolation between finite dimensional, lattice-based models and their mean-field limits. In percolation, the hierarchical small-world bonds in the Hanoi networks impose a new form of order by uniting otherwise disconnected, local clusters. This "patchy" order results in merely a finite probability to obtain a spanning cluster for certain ranges of the bond probability, unlike the usual 0-1 transition found on ordinary lattices. The various networks studied here exhibit a range of phase behaviors, depending on the prevalence of those long-range bonds. Fixed points in general exhibit non-universal behavior., Comment: 12 pages, revtex, 15 figures, find related papers at http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

The recently introduced hierarchical regular networks HN3 and HN4 are analyzed in detail. We use renormalization group arguments to show that HN3, a 3-regular planar graph, has a diameter growing as \sqrt{N} with the system size, and random walks on HN3 exhibit super-diffusion with an anomalous exponent d_w = 2 - \log_2\phi = 1.306..., where \phi = (\sqrt{5} + 1)/2 = 1.618... is the "golden ratio." In contrast, HN4, a non-planar 4-regular graph, has a diameter that grows slower than any power of N, yet, fast than any power of \ln N . In an annealed approximation we can show that diffusive transport on HN4 occurs ballistically (d_w = 1). Walkers on both graphs possess a first- return probability with a power law tail characterized by an exponent \mu = 2 -1/d_w . It is shown explicitly that recurrence properties on HN3 depend on the starting site., Comment: 15 pages, revtex; published version; find related material at http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

Diffusion is modeled on the recently proposed Hanoi networks by studying the mean- square displacement of random walks with time, ~t^{2/d_w}. It is found that diffusion - the quintessential mode of transport throughout Nature - proceeds faster than ordinary, in one case with an exact, anomalous exponent dw = 2-log_2(\phi) = 1.30576 . . .. It is an instance of a physical exponent containing the "golden ratio" \phi=(1+\sqrt{5})/2 that is intimately related to Fibonacci sequences and since Euclid's time has been found to be fundamental throughout geometry, architecture, art, and Nature itself. It originates from a singular renormalization group fixed point with a subtle boundary layer, for whose resolution \phi is the main protagonist. The origin of this rare singularity is easily understood in terms of the physics of the process. Yet, the connection between network geometry and the emergence of \phi in this context remains elusive. These results provide an accurate test of recently proposed universal scaling forms for first passage times., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures incl.; for related work, see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/, some new material, as to appear in Europhysics Letters

The recently proposed reduction method for diluted spin glasses is investigated in depth. In particular, the Edwards-Anderson model with \pm J and Gaussian bond disorder on hyper-cubic lattices in d=2, 3, and 4 is studied for a range of bond dilutions. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of using bond dilution to elucidate low-temperature properties of Ising spin glasses, and provide a starting point to enhance the methods used in reduction. Based on that, a greedy heuristic call ``Dominant Bond Reduction'' is introduced and explored., Comment: 10 pages, revtex, final version, find related material at http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

Two new classes of networks are introduced that resemble small-world properties. These networks are recursively constructed but retain a fixed, regular degree. They consist of a one-dimensional lattice backbone overlayed by a hierarchical sequence of long-distance links. Both types of networks, one 3-regular and the other 4-regular, lead to distinct behaviors, as revealed by renormalization group studies. The 3-regular networks are planar, have a diameter growing as \sqrt{N} with the system size N, and lead to super-diffusion with an exact, anomalous exponent d_w=1.3057581..., but possesses only a trivial fixed point T_c=0 for the Ising ferromagnet. In turn, the 4-regular networks are non-planar, have a diameter growing as ~2^[\sqrt(\log_2 N^2)], exhibit "ballistic" diffusion (d_w=1), and a non-trivial ferromagnetic transition, T_c>0. It suggest that the 3-regular networks are still quite "geometric", while the 4-regular networks qualify as true small-world networks with mean-field properties. As an example of an application we discuss synchronization of processors on these networks., Comment: 9 pages, final version for JPA FastTrack, find related articles at http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher

The recently proposed Hysteretic Optimization (HO) procedure is applied to the 1D Ising spin chain with long range interactions. To study its effectiveness, the quality of ground state energies found as a function of the distance dependence exponent, $\sigma$, is assessed. It is found that the transition from an infinite-range to a long-range interaction at $\sigma=0.5$ is accompanied by a sharp decrease in the performance . The transition is signaled by a change in the scaling behavior of the average avalanche size observed during the hysteresis process. This indicates that HO requires the system to be infinite-range, with a high degree of interconnectivity between variables leading to large avalanches, in order to function properly. An analysis of the way auto-correlations evolve during the optimization procedure confirm that the search of phase space is less efficient, with the system becoming effectively stuck in suboptimal configurations much earlier. These observations explain the poor performance that HO obtained for the Edwards-Anderson spin glass on finite-dimensional lattices, and suggest that its usefulness might be limited in many combinatorial optimization problems., Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures. To appear in JSTAT. Author website: http://www.bgoncalves.com

The thermal-to-percolative crossover exponent \phi, well-known for ferromagnetic systems, is studied extensively for Edwards-Anderson spin glasses. The scaling of defect energies are determined at the bond percolation threshold p_c, using an improved algorithm. Simulations extend to system sizes above N=10^8 in dimensions d=2,...,7. The results can be related to the behavior of the transition temperature T_g (p-p_c)^\phi between the paramagnetic and the glassy regime for p-> p_c. In three dimensions, where our simulations predict \phi=1.127(5), this scaling form for T_g provides a rare experimental test of predictions arising from the equilibrium theory of low-temperature spin glasses. For dimension near and above the upper critical dimension, the results provide a new challenge to reconcile mean-field theory with finite-dimensional properties., Comment: 4 pages, added figure and other improvements, final version, related information can be found at http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

The recently proposed reduction method is applied to the Edwards-Anderson model on bond-diluted square lattices. This allows, in combination with a graph-theoretical matching algorithm, to calculate numerically exact ground states of large systems. Low-temperature domain-wall excitations are studied to determine the stiffness exponent y_2. A value of y_2=-0.281(3) is found, consistent with previous results obtained on undiluted lattices. This comparison demonstrates the validity of the reduction method for bond-diluted spin systems and provides strong support for similar studies proclaiming accurate results for stiffness exponents in dimensions d=3,...,7., Comment: 7 pages, RevTex4, 6 ps-figures included, for related information, see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

Recently, a method has been proposed to obtain accurate predictions for low-temperature properties of lattice spin glasses that is practical even above the upper critical dimension, $d_c=6$. This method is based on the observation that bond-dilution enables the numerical treatment of larger lattices, and that the subsequent combination of such data at various bond densities into a finite-size scaling Ansatz produces more robust scaling behavior. In the present study we test the potential of such a procedure, in particular, to obtain the stiffness exponent for the hierarchical Migdal-Kadanoff lattice. Critical exponents for this model are known with great accuracy and any simulations can be executed to very large lattice sizes at almost any bond density, effecting a insightful comparison that highlights the advantages -- as well as the weaknesses -- of this method. These insights are applied to the Edwards-Anderson model in $d=3$ with Gaussian bonds., Comment: corrected version, 10 pages, RevTex4, 12 ps-figures included; related papers available a http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

The stiffness exponents in the glass phase for lattice spin glasses in dimensions $d=3,...,6$ are determined. To this end, we consider bond-diluted lattices near the T=0 glass transition point $p^*$. This transition for discrete bond distributions occurs just above the bond percolation point $p_c$ in each dimension. Numerics suggests that both points, $p_c$ and $p^*$, seem to share the same $1/d$-expansion, at least for several leading orders, each starting with $1/(2d)$. Hence, these lattice graphs have average connectivities of $\alpha=2dp\gtrsim1$ near $p^*$ and exact graph-reduction methods become very effective in eliminating recursively all spins of connectivity $\leq3$, allowing the treatment of lattices of lengths up to L=30 and with up to $10^5-10^6$ spins. Using finite-size scaling, data for the defect energy width $\sigma(\Delta E)$ over a range of $p>p^*$ in each dimension can be combined to reach scaling regimes of about one decade in the scaling variable $L(p-p^*)^{\nu^*}$. Accordingly, unprecedented accuracy is obtained for the stiffness exponents compared to undiluted lattices ($p=1$), where scaling is far more limited. Surprisingly, scaling corrections typically are more benign for diluted lattices. We find in $d=3,...,6$ for the stiffness exponents $y_3=0.24(1)$, $y_4=0.61(2), y_5=0.88(5)$, and $y_6=1.1(1)$. The result for the upper critical dimension, $d_u=6$, suggest a mean-field value of $y_\infty=1$., Comment: 8 pages, RevTex, 15 ps-figures included (see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher for related information)

A new approach to exploring low-temperature excitations in finite-dimensional lattice spin glasses is proposed. By focusing on bond-diluted lattices just above the percolation threshold, large system sizes $L$ can be obtained which lead to enhanced scaling regimes and more accurate exponents. Furthermore, this method in principle remains practical for any dimension, yielding exponents that so far have been elusive. This approach is demonstrated by determining the stiffness exponent for dimensions $d=3$, $d=6$ (the upper critical dimension), and $d=7$. Key is the application of an exact reduction algorithm, which eliminates a large fraction of spins, so that the reduced lattices never exceed $\sim10^3$ variables for sizes as large as L=30 in $d=3$, L=9 in $d=6$, or L=8 in $d=7$. Finite size scaling analysis gives $y_3=0.24(1)$ for $d=3$, significantly improving on previous work. The results for $d=6$ and $d=7$, $y_6=1.1(1)$ and $y_7=1.24(5)$, are entirely new and are compared with mean-field predictions made for d>=6., Comment: 7 pages, LaTex, 7 ps-figures included, added result for stiffness in d=7, as to appear in Europhysics Letters (see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/ for related information)

An extensive list of results for the ground state properties of spin glasses on random graphs is presented. These results provide a timely benchmark for currently developing theoretical techniques based on replica symmetry breaking that are being tested on mean-field models at low connectivity. Comparison with existing replica results for such models verifies the strength of those techniques. Yet, we find that spin glasses on fixed-connectivity graphs (Bethe lattices) exhibit a richer phenomenology than has been anticipated by theory. Our data prove to be sufficiently accurate to speculate about some exact results., Comment: 4 pages, RevTex4, 5 ps-figures included, related papers available at http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

The average ground state energy and entropy for +/- J spin glasses on Bethe lattices of connectivities k+1=3...,26 at T=0 are approximated numerically. To obtain sufficient accuracy for large system sizes (up to n=2048), the Extremal Optimization heuristic is employed which provides high-quality results not only for the ground state energies per spin e_{k+1} but also for their entropies s_{k+1}. The results show considerable quantitative differences between lattices of even and odd connectivities. The results for the ground state energies compare very well with recent one-step replica symmetry breaking calculations. These energies can be scaled for all even connectivities k+1 to within a fraction of a percent onto a simple functional form, e_{k+1} = E_{SK} sqrt(k+1) - {2E_{SK}+sqrt(2)} / sqrt(k+1), where E_{SK} = -0.7633 is the ground state energy for the broken replica symmetry in the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model. But this form is in conflict with perturbative calculations at large k+1, which do not distinguish between even and odd connectivities. We find non-zero entropies s_{k+1} at small connectivities. While s_{k+1} seems to vanish asymptotically with 1/(k+1) for even connectivities, it is indistinguishable from zero already for odd k+1 >= 9., Comment: 11 pages, RevTex4, 28 ps-figures included, related papers available at http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

Extremal Optimization, a recently introduced meta-heuristic for hard optimization problems, is analyzed on a simple model of jamming. The model is motivated first by the problem of finding lowest energy configurations for a disordered spin system on a fixed-valence graph. The numerical results for the spin system exhibit the same phenomena found in all earlier studies of extremal optimization, and our analytical results for the model reproduce many of these features., Comment: 9 pages, RevTex4, 7 ps-figures included, as to appear in J. Phys. A, related papers available at http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

Extremal optimization is a new general-purpose method for approximating solutions to hard optimization problems. We study the method in detail by way of the NP-hard graph partitioning problem. We discuss the scaling behavior of extremal optimization, focusing on the convergence of the average run as a function of runtime and system size. The method has a single free parameter, which we determine numerically and justify using a simple argument. Our numerical results demonstrate that on random graphs, extremal optimization maintains consistent accuracy for increasing system sizes, with an approximation error decreasing over runtime roughly as a power law t^(-0.4). On geometrically structured graphs, the scaling of results from the average run suggests that these are far from optimal, with large fluctuations between individual trials. But when only the best runs are considered, results consistent with theoretical arguments are recovered., Comment: 34 pages, RevTex4, 1 table and 20 ps-figures included, related papers available at http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

We explore a new general-purpose heuristic for finding high-quality solutions to hard optimization problems. The method, called extremal optimization, is inspired by self-organized criticality, a concept introduced to describe emergent complexity in physical systems. Extremal optimization successively replaces extremely undesirable variables of a single sub-optimal solution with new, random ones. Large fluctuations ensue, that efficiently explore many local optima. With only one adjustable parameter, the heuristic's performance has proven competitive with more elaborate methods, especially near phase transitions which are believed to coincide with the hardest instances. We use extremal optimization to elucidate the phase transition in the 3-coloring problem, and we provide independent confirmation of previously reported extrapolations for the ground-state energy of +-J spin glasses in d=3 and 4., Comment: 4 pages, RevTex4, 1 table and 3 ps-figures included, as to appear in PRL, related papers available at http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/

The zeros of the eigenfunctions of self-adjoint Sturm-Liouville eigenvalue problems interlace. For these problems interlacing is crucial for completeness. For the complex Sturm-Liouville problem associated with the Schrodinger equation for a non-Hermitian PT-symmetric Hamiltonian, completeness and interlacing of zeros have never been examined. This paper reports a numerical study of the Sturm-Liouville problems for three complex potentials, the large-N limit of a -(ix)^N potential, a quasi-exactly-solvable -x^4 potential, and an ix^3 potential. In all cases the complex zeros of the eigenfunctions exhibit a similar pattern of interlacing and it is conjectured that this pattern is universal. Understanding this pattern could provide insight into whether the eigenfunctions of complex Sturm-Liouville problems form a complete set., Comment: 13 pages, RevTex, 6 figures, for related papers, see http://www.physics.emory.edu/faculty/boettcher/#PT

A Forward Plug Calorimeter (FPC) for the ZEUS detector at HERA has been built as a shashlik lead-scintillator calorimeter with wave length shifter fiber readout. Before installation it was tested and calibrated using the X5 test beam facility of the SPS accelerator at CERN. Electron, muon and pion beams in the momentum range of 10 to 100 GeV/c were used. Results of these measurements are presented as well as a calibration monitoring system based on a $^{60}$Co source., Comment: 38 pages (Latex); 26 figures (ps)

Numerical results are presented indicating d_c=4 as the upper critical dimension for the Bak-Sneppen evolution model. This finding agrees with previous theoretical arguments, but contradicts a recent Letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 5746-5749 (1998)] that placed d_c as high as d=8. In particular, we find that avalanches are compact for all dimensions d<=4, and are fractal for d>4. Under those conditions, scaling arguments predict a d_c=4, where hyperscaling relations hold for d<=4. Other properties of avalanches, studied for 1<=d<=6, corroborate this result. To this end, an improved numerical algorithm is presented that is based on the equivalent branching process., Comment: 4 pages, RevTex4, as to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett., related papers available at http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~sboettc/

We propose a general-purpose method for finding high-quality solutions to hard optimization problems, inspired by self-organizing processes often found in nature. The method, called Extremal Optimization, successively eliminates extremely undesirable components of sub-optimal solutions. Drawing upon models used to simulate far-from-equilibrium dynamics, it complements approximation methods inspired by equilibrium statistical physics, such as Simulated Annealing. With only one adjustable parameter, its performance proves competitive with, and often superior to, more elaborate stochastic optimization procedures. We demonstrate it here on two classic hard optimization problems: graph partitioning and the traveling salesman problem., Comment: 15 Pages, RevTex, 5 eps-figures included, several additions, as to appear in Artificial Intelligence; related papers available at http://userwww.service.emory.edu/~sboettc/

The benefits of a recently proposed method to approximate hard optimization problems are demonstrated on the graph partitioning problem. The performance of this new method, called Extremal Optimization, is compared to Simulated Annealing in extensive numerical simulations. While generally a complex (NP-hard) problem, the optimization of the graph partitions is particularly difficult for sparse graphs with average connectivities near the percolation threshold. At this threshold, the relative error of Simulated Annealing for large graphs is found to diverge relative to Extremal Optimization at equalized runtime. On the other hand, Extremal Optimization, based on the extremal dynamics of self-organized critical systems, reproduces known results about optimal partitions at this critical point quite well., Comment: 7 pages, RevTex, 9 ps-figures included, as to appear in Journal of Physics A

We use a one-dimensional random walk on $D$-dimensional hyper-spheres to determine the critical behavior of statistical systems in hyper-spherical geometries. First, we demonstrate the properties of such a walk by studying the phase diagram of a percolation problem. We find a line of second and first order phase transitions separated by a tricritical point. Then, we analyze the adsorption-desorption transition for a polymer growing near the attractive boundary of a cylindrical cell membrane. We find that the fraction of adsorbed monomers on the boundary vanishes exponentially when the adsorption energy decreases towards its critical value., Comment: 8 pages, latex, 2 figures in ps

In a recent letter, a simple method was proposed to generate solvable models that predict the critical properties of statistical systems in hyperspherical geometries. To that end, it was shown how to reduce a random walk in $D$ dimensions to an anisotropic one-dimensional random walk on concentric hyperspheres. Here, I construct such a random walk to model the adsorption-desorption transition of polymer chains growing near an attractive cylindrical boundary such as that of a cell membrane. I find that the fraction of adsorbed monomers on the boundary vanishes exponentially when the adsorption energy decreases towards its critical value. When the adsorption energy rises beyond a certain value above the critical point whose scale is set by the radius of the cell, the adsorption fraction exhibits a crossover to a linear increase characteristic to polymers growing near planar boundaries., Comment: latex, 12 pages, 3 ps-figures, uuencoded

We use a one-dimensional random walk on $D$-dimensional hyper-spheres to determine the critical behavior of statistical systems in hyper-spherical geometries. First, we demonstrate the properties of such walk by studying the phase diagram of a percolation problem. We find a line of second and first order phase transitions separated by a tricritical point. Then, we analyze the adsorption-desorption transition for a polymer growing near the attractive boundary of a cylindrical cell membrane. We find that the fraction of adsorbed monomers on the boundary vanishes exponentially when the adsorption energy decreases towards its critical value. We observe a crossover phenomenon to an area of linear growth at energies of the order of the inverse cell radius., Comment: to appear in NPB Proc. Suppl. of LATTICE'94, 3 pages, ps-file uuencoded, 2 figures included, NO-NUM-0

A previous paper (hep-lat/9311011) proposed a new kind of random walk on a spherically-symmetric lattice in arbitrary noninteger dimension $D$. Such a lattice avoids the problems associated with a hypercubic lattice in noninteger dimension. This paper examines the nature of spherically-symmetric random walks in detail. We perform a large-time asymptotic analysis of these random walks and use the results to determine the Hausdorff dimension of the process. We obtain exact results in terms of Hurwitz functions (incomplete zeta functions) for the probability of a walker going from one region of the spherical lattice to another. Finally, we show that the probability that the paths of $K$ independent random walkers will intersect vanishes in the continuum limit if $D> {{2K}\over{K-1}}$., Comment: 40 pages, 4 figures, plain tex, tared and uuencoded, WU-HEP 94

We study the lattice \njl~model with two flavors of Wilson fermions in the large $N$ limit, where $N$ is the number of `colors'. For large values of the four-fermion coupling we find a phase in which both, flavor symmetry and parity, are spontaneously broken. In accordance with general expectations there are three massless pions on the phase boundary, but only two of them remain massless inside the broken phase. This is analogous to earlier results obtained in lattice QCD, indicating that this behavior is a very general feature of the Wilson term., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, LATEX, tared and uuencoded