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Decoherence is a major challenge for quantum technologies. A way to mitigate its negative impact is by employing quantum optimal control. The decoherence dynamics varies significantly based on the characteristics of the surrounding environment of qubits, consequently affecting the outcome of the control optimization. In this work, we investigate the dependence of the shape of a spin inversion control pulse on the correlation time of the environment noise. Furthermore, we analyze the effects of constraints and optimization options on the optimization outcome and identify a set of strategies that improve the optimization performance. Finally, we present an experimental realization of the numerically-optimized pulses validating the optimization feasibility. Our work serves as a generic yet essential guide to implementing optimal control in the presence of realistic noise, e.g., in nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond., Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures

In pursuit of a more sustainable and cost-efficient last mile, parcel lockers have gained a firm foothold in the parcel delivery landscape. To fully exploit their potential and simultaneously ensure customer satisfaction, successful management of the locker's limited capacity is crucial. This is challenging as future delivery requests and pickup times are stochastic from the provider's perspective. In response, we propose to dynamically control whether the locker is presented as an available delivery option to each incoming customer with the goal of maximizing the number of served requests weighted by their priority. Additionally, we take different compartment sizes into account, which entails a second type of decision as parcels scheduled for delivery must be allocated. We formalize the problem as an infinite-horizon sequential decision problem and find that exact methods are intractable due to the curses of dimensionality. In light of this, we develop a solution framework that orchestrates multiple algorithmic techniques rooted in Sequential Decision Analytics and Reinforcement Learning, namely cost function approximation and an offline trained parametric value function approximation together with a truncated online rollout. Our innovative approach to combine these techniques enables us to address the strong interrelations between the two decision types. As a general methodological contribution, we enhance the training of our value function approximation with a modified version of experience replay that enforces structure in the value function. Our computational study shows that our method outperforms a myopic benchmark by 13.7% and an industry-inspired policy by 12.6%.

We infer the growth of large scale structure over the redshift range $0.4\lesssim z \lesssim 1$ from the cross-correlation of spectroscopically calibrated Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) selected from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) legacy imaging survey with CMB lensing maps reconstructed from the latest Planck and ACT data. We adopt a hybrid effective field theory (HEFT) model that robustly regulates the cosmological information obtainable from smaller scales, such that our cosmological constraints are reliably derived from the (predominantly) linear regime. We perform an extensive set of bandpower- and parameter-level systematics checks to ensure the robustness of our results and to characterize the uniformity of the LRG sample. We demonstrate that our results are stable to a wide range of modeling assumptions, finding excellent agreement with a linear theory analysis performed on a restricted range of scales. From a tomographic analysis of the four LRG photometric redshift bins we find that the rate of structure growth is consistent with $\Lambda$CDM with an overall amplitude that is $\simeq5-7\%$ lower than predicted by primary CMB measurements with modest $(\sim2\sigma)$ statistical significance. From the combined analysis of all four bins and their cross-correlations with Planck we obtain $S_8 = 0.765\pm0.023$, which is less discrepant with primary CMB measurements than previous DESI LRG cross Planck CMB lensing results. From the cross-correlation with ACT we obtain $S_8 = 0.790^{+0.024}_{-0.027}$, while when jointly analyzing Planck and ACT we find $S_8 = 0.775^{+0.019}_{-0.022}$ from our data alone and $\sigma_8 = 0.772^{+0.020}_{-0.023}$ with the addition of BAO data. These constraints are consistent with the latest Planck primary CMB analyses at the $\simeq 1.6-2.2\sigma$ level, and are in excellent agreement with galaxy lensing surveys., Comment: 60 pages, 26 figures, comments welcome

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)

A detection of the 21 cm signal can provide a unique window of opportunity for uncovering complex astrophysical phenomena at the epoch of reionization and placing constraints on cosmology at high redshifts, which are usually elusive to large-scale structure surveys. In this work, we provide a theoretical model based on a quadratic bias expansion capable of recovering the 21 cm power spectrum with high accuracy sufficient for upcoming ground-based radio interferometer experiments. In particular, we develop a hybrid effective field theory (HEFT) model in redshift space that leverages the accuracy of $N$-body simulations with the predictive power of analytical bias expansion models, and test it against the Thesan suite of radiative transfer hydrodynamical simulations. We make predictions of the 21 cm brightness temperature field at several distinct redshifts, ranging between $z = 6.5$ and 11, thus probing a large fraction of the reionization history of the Universe ($x_{\rm HI} = 0.3 \sim 0.9$), and compare our model to the `true' 21 cm brightness in terms of the correlation coefficient, power spectrum and modeling error. We find percent-level agreement at large and intermediate scales, $k \lesssim 0.5 h/{\rm Mpc}$, and favorable behavior down to small scales, $k \sim 1 h/{\rm Mpc}$, outperforming pure perturbation-theory-based models. To put our findings into context, we show that even in the absence of any foreground contamination the thermal noise of a futuristic HERA-like experiment is comparable with the theoretical uncertainty in our model in the allowed `wedge' of observations, providing further evidence in support of using HEFT-based models to approximate a range of cosmological observables., Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, submitted to PRD

Diamond is a promising platform for quantum information processing as it can host highly coherent qubits that could allow for the construction of large quantum registers. A prerequisite for such devices is a coherent interaction between nitrogen vacancy (NV) electron spins. Entanglement between dipolar-coupled NV spin pairs has been demonstrated, but with a limited entanglement fidelity and its error sources have not been characterized. Here, we design and implement a robust, easy to implement entangling gate between NV spins in diamond and quantify the influence of multiple error sources on the gate performance. Experimentally, we demonstrate a record gate fidelity of $F=(96.0 \pm 2.5)$ % under ambient conditions. Our identification of the dominant errors paves the way towards NV-NV gates beyond the error correction threshold.

A search for full energy depositions from bosonic keV-scale dark matter candidates of masses between 65 keV and 1021 keV has been performed with data collected during Phase II of the GERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) experiment. Our analysis includes direct dark matter absorption as well as dark Compton scattering. With a total exposure of 105.5 kg yr, no evidence for a signal above the background has been observed. The resulting exclusion limits deduced with either Bayesian or Frequentist statistics are the most stringent direct constraints in the major part of the 140-1021 keV mass range. As an example, at a mass of 150 keV the dimensionless coupling of dark photons and axion-like particles to electrons has been constrained to $\alpha$'/$\alpha$ < 8.7x10$^{-24}$ and g$_{ae}$ < 3.3x10$^{-12}$ at 90% credible interval (CI), respectively. Additionally, a search for peak-like signals from beyond the Standard Model decays of nucleons and electrons is performed. We find for the inclusive decay of a single neutron in $^{76}$Ge a lower lifetime limit of $\tau_n$ > 1.5x10$^{24}$ yr and for a proton $\tau_p$ > 1.3x10$^{24}$ yr at 90% CI. For the electron decay e$^-\rightarrow\nu_e\gamma$ a lower limit of $\tau_e$ > 5.4x10$^{25}$ yr at 90% CI has been determined., Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, 7 tables

The magnetic dipole and the spectroscopic quadrupole moments of the nuclear ground states in the odd-mass nickel isotopes $^{59-67}$Ni have been determined using collinear laser spectroscopy at the CERN-ISOLDE facility. They are compared to ab initio valence-space in-medium similarity renormalization group (VS-IMSRG) calculations including contributions of two-body currents as well as to shell-model calculations. The two-body-current contributions significantly improve the agreement with experimental data, reducing the mean-square deviation from the experimental moments by a factor of 3 to 5, depending on the employed interaction. For all interactions, the largest contributions are obtained for the $5/2^-$ ($7/2^-$) isotopes $^{65}$Ni ($^{55}$Ni), which is ascribed to the high angular momentum of the $f$ orbitals. Our results demonstrate that the inclusion of two-body-current contributions to the magnetic moment in an isotopic chain of complex nuclei can be handled by the VS-IMSRG and can outperform phenomenological shell-model calculations using effective $g$-factors in the nickel region., Comment: Published in Physics Letters B, 10 pages, 3 figures

Randomized controlled clinical trials provide the gold standard for evidence generation in relation to the efficacy of a new treatment in medical research. Relevant information from previous studies may be desirable to incorporate in the design and analysis of a new trial, with the Bayesian paradigm providing a coherent framework to formally incorporate prior knowledge. Many established methods involve the use of a discounting factor, sometimes related to a measure of `similarity' between historical and the new trials. However, it is often the case that the sample size is highly nonlinear in those discounting factors. This hinders communication with subject-matter experts to elicit sensible values for borrowing strength at the trial design stage. Focusing on a commensurate predictive prior method that can incorporate historical data from multiple sources, we highlight a particular issue of nonmonotonicity and explain why this causes issues with interpretability of the discounting factors (hereafter referred to as `weights'). We propose a solution for this, from which an analytical sample size formula is derived. We then propose a linearization technique such that the sample size changes uniformly over the weights. Our approach leads to interpretable weights that represent the probability that historical data are (ir)relevant to the new trial, and could therefore facilitate easier elicitation of expert opinion on their values. Keywords: Bayesian sample size determination; Commensurate priors; Historical borrowing; Prior aggregation; Uniform shrinkage., Comment: A submitted paper with 33 pages (inclusive of references, 4 figures and 5 tables)

This study of the University of Texas (UT) at Austin surveys the most influential policies enacted on campus in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This report compiles and examines the university's DEI plans, its progress updates, and all of the publicly accessible DEI plans and updates published by the university's various colleges and schools. Key takeaways from the report are that UT Austin's DEI initiatives espouse a clear ideological agenda, call for a vast overhaul of curriculum and instruction, make an overt commitment to make DEI an effective job requirement for faculty, and create and feed a large bureaucracy devoted to advancing the vague goals of DEI.

American higher education has recently embraced a new tool for advancing its commitment to "diversity, equity, and inclusion" (DEI). Many colleges and universities are now engaged in "DEI cluster hiring," a practice which ultimately embodies higher education's turn toward political and social activism. Unfortunately, it has become a tool of choice for many universities across the United States. "Cluster hiring" is not itself new. DEI cluster hiring appropriates an established form of faculty recruitment that has a long history, especially in the natural sciences, where it meant the coordinated hiring of faculty members in several departments to work on a shared research topic. This older form of cluster hiring made and still makes sense because contemporary scientific research can require the combination of several kinds of expertise. In order to achieve its stated goals, DEI cluster hiring must include a host of additional interventions--in particular, a heavy reliance on diversity statements and a narrow focus on ethnicity or the themes of identity politics. These additional interventions transform cluster hiring into a means to embed DEI further into the fabric of the university, by creating dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of new faculty positions focused solely on diversity, equity, and inclusion. In this report, the author seeks to explain the phenomenon of DEI cluster hiring, demonstrate its widespread practice throughout academia, and highlight the dangers of the practice. Ultimately, DEI cluster hiring signals the total reorientation of the university's function from the pursuit of truth to the pursuit of political and social transformation.

A performant and easy-to-use event data model (EDM) is a key component of any HEP software stack. The podio EDM toolkit provides a user friendly way of generating such a performant implementation in C++ from a high level description in yaml format. Finalizing a few important developments, we are in the final stretches for release v1.0 of podio, a stable release with backward compatibility for datafiles written with podio from then on. We present an overview of the podio basics, and go into slighty more technical detail on the most important topics and developments. These include: schema evolution for generated EDMs, multithreading with podio generated EDMs, the implementation of them as well as the basics of I/O. Using EDM4hep, the common and shared EDM of the Key4hep project, we highlight a few of the smaller features in action as well as some lessons learned during the development of EDM4hep and podio. Finally, we show how podio has been integrated into the Gaudi based event processing framework that is used by Key4hep, before we conclude with a brief outlook on potential developments after v1.0., Comment: Submitted to proceedings of CHEP 2023

The podio event data model (EDM) toolkit provides an easy way to generate a performant implementation of an EDM from a high level description in yaml format. We present the most recent developments in podio, most importantly the inclusion of a schema evolution mechanism for generated EDMs as well as the "Frame", a thread safe, generalized event data container. For the former we discuss some of the technical aspects in relation with supporting different I/O backends and leveraging potentially existing schema evolution mechanisms provided by them. Regarding the Frame we introduce the basic concept and highlight some of the functionality as well as important aspects of its implementation. The usage of podio for generating different EDMs for future collider projects (most importantly EDM4hep, the common EDM for the Key4hep project) has inspired new features. We present some of those smaller new features and end with a brief overview on current developments towards a first stable version as well as an outlook on future developments beyond that., Comment: Submitted to proceedings of ACAT 2022

The Key4hep project aims to provide a turnkey software solution for the full experiment lifecycle, based on established community tools. Several future collider communities (CEPC, CLIC, EIC, FCC, and ILC) have joined to develop and adapt their workflows to use the common data model EDM4hep and common framework. Besides sharing of existing experiment workflows, one focus of the Key4hep project is the development and integration of new experiment independent software libraries. Ongoing collaborations with projects such as ACTS, CLUE, PandoraPFA and the OpenDataDector show the potential of Key4hep as an experiment-independent testbed and development platform. In this talk, we present the challenges of an experiment-independent framework along with the lessons learned from discussions of interested communities (such as LUXE) and recent adopters of Key4hep in order to discuss how Key4hep could be of interest to the wider HEP community while staying true to its goal of supporting future collider designs studies., Comment: Submitted to proceedings of ACAT 2022

Detector studies for future experiments rely on advanced software tools to estimate performance and optimize their design and technology choices. The Key4hep project provides a flexible turnkey solution for the full experiment life-cycle based on established community tools such as ROOT, Geant4, DD4hep, Gaudi, podio and spack. Members of the CEPC, CLIC, EIC, FCC, and ILC communities have joined to develop this framework and have merged, or are in the progress of merging, their respective software environments into the Key4hep stack. These proceedings will give an overview over the recent progress in the Key4hep project: covering the developments towards adaptation of state-of-the-art tools for simulation (DD4hep, Gaussino), track and calorimeter reconstruction (ACTS, CLUE), particle flow (PandoraPFA), analysis via RDataFrame, and visualization with Phoenix, as well as tools for testing and validation., Comment: Proceedings of CHEP 2023

We present the measurements of individual bound electron $g$ factors of $^{20}\text{Ne}^{9+}$ and $^{22}\text{Ne}^{9+}$ on the relative level of $0.1\,\text{parts}$ per billion. The comparison with theory represents the most stringent test of bound-state QED in strong electric fields. A dedicated mass measurement results in $m\left(^{20}\text{Ne}\right)=19.992\,440\,168\,77\,(9)\,\text{u}$, which improves the current literature value by a factor of nineteen, disagrees by $4$ standard deviations and represents the most precisely measured mass value in atomic mass units. Together, these measurements yield an electron mass on the relative level of $0.1\,\text{ppb}$ with $m_{\text{e}}=5.485\,799\,090\,99\,(59) \times 10^{-4}\,\text{u}$ as well as a factor of eight improved $m\left(^{22}\text{Ne}\right)=21.991\,385\,098\,2\,(26)\,\text{u}$.

Gamma-ray observations have established energetic isolated pulsars as outstanding particle accelerators and antimatter factories in the Galaxy. There is, however, no consensus regarding the acceleration mechanisms and the radiative processes at play, nor the locations where these take place. The spectra of all observed gamma-ray pulsars to date show strong cutoffs or a break above energies of a few gigaelectronvolt (GeV). Using the H.E.S.S. array of Cherenkov telescopes, we discovered a novel radiation component emerging beyond this generic GeV cutoff in the Vela pulsar's broadband spectrum. The extension of gamma-ray pulsation energies up to at least 20 teraelectronvolts (TeV) shows that Vela pulsar can accelerate particles to Lorentz factors higher than $4\times10^7$. This is an order of magnitude larger than in the case of the Crab pulsar, the only other pulsar detected in the TeV energy range. Our results challenge the state-of-the-art models for high-energy emission of pulsars while providing a new probe, i.e. the energetic multi-TeV component, for constraining the acceleration and emission processes in their extreme energy limit., Comment: 38 pages, 6 figures. This preprint has not undergone peer review or any post-submission improvements or corrections. The Version of Record of this article is published in Nature Astronomy, Nat Astron (2023), and is available online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02052-3

Decoherence-protected spins associated with nitrogen-vacancy color centers in diamond possess remarkable long coherence time, which make them one of the most promising and robust quantum registers. The current demand is to explore practical rapid control strategies for preparing and manipulating the such register. Our work provides all-microwave control strategies optimized using multiple optimization methods to significantly reduce the processing time by $80\%$ with a set of smooth near-zero-endpoints control fields that are shown to be experimentally realizable. Furthermore, we optimize and analyze the robustness of these strategies under frequency and amplitude imperfections of the control fields, during which process we use only $16$ samples to give a fair estimation of the robustness map with $2500$ pixels. Overall, we provide a ready-to-implement recipe to facilitate high-performance information processing via decoherence-protected quantum register for future quantum technology applications., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures

We present two galaxy samples, selected from DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (LS) DR9, with approximately 20,000 square degrees of coverage and spectroscopic redshift distributions designed for cross-correlations such as with CMB lensing, galaxy lensing, and the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. The first sample is identical to the DESI Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) sample, and the second sample is an extended LRG sample with 2-3 times the DESI LRG density. We present the improved photometric redshifts, tomographic binning and their spectroscopic redshift distributions and imaging systematics weights, and magnification bias coefficients. The catalogs and related data products will be made publicly available. The cosmological constraints using this sample and Planck lensing maps are presented in a companion paper. We also make public the new set of general-purpose photometric redshifts trained using DESI spectroscopic redshifts, which are used in this work, for all galaxies in LS DR9., Comment: Matches the journal version. Associated data files: https://data.desi.lbl.gov/public/papers/c3/lrg_xcorr_2023/. General-purpose photo-z catalogs: https://www.legacysurvey.org/dr9/files/#photo-z-sweeps-9-1-photo-z-sweep-brickmin-brickmax-pz-fits

We present the measurement of the two-neutrino double-$\beta$ decay rate of $^{76}$Ge performed with the GERDA Phase II experiment. With a subset of the entire GERDA exposure, 11.8 kg$\cdot$yr, the half-life of the process has been determined: $T^{2\nu}_{1/2} = (2.022 \pm 0.018_{stat} \pm 0.038_{sys})\times10^{21}$ yr. This is the most precise determination of the $^{76}$Ge two-neutrino double-$\beta$ decay half-life and one of the most precise measurements of a double-$\beta$ decay process. The relevant nuclear matrix element can be extracted: $M^{2\nu}_{\text{eff}} = (0.101\pm0.001).$, Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables

This study investigates the consistency of feedback ratings generated by OpenAI's GPT-4, a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence language model, across multiple iterations, time spans and stylistic variations. The model rated responses to tasks within the Higher Education (HE) subject domain of macroeconomics in terms of their content and style. Statistical analysis was conducted in order to learn more about the interrater reliability, consistency of the ratings across iterations and the correlation between ratings in terms of content and style. The results revealed a high interrater reliability with ICC scores ranging between 0.94 and 0.99 for different timespans, suggesting that GPT-4 is capable of generating consistent ratings across repetitions with a clear prompt. Style and content ratings show a high correlation of 0.87. When applying a non-adequate style the average content ratings remained constant, while style ratings decreased, which indicates that the large language model (LLM) effectively distinguishes between these two criteria during evaluation. The prompt used in this study is furthermore presented and explained. Further research is necessary to assess the robustness and reliability of AI models in various use cases., Comment: 14 pages, 7 tables, 1 figure

We search for tri-nucleon decays of $^{76}$Ge in the dataset from the GERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) experiment. Decays that populate excited levels of the daughter nucleus above the threshold for particle emission lead to disintegration and are not considered. The ppp-, ppn-, and pnn-decays lead to $^{73}$Cu, $^{73}$Zn, and $^{73}$Ga nuclei, respectively. These nuclei are unstable and eventually proceed by the beta decay of $^{73}$Ga to $^{73}$Ge (stable). We search for the $^{73}$Ga decay exploiting the fact that it dominantly populates the 66.7 keV $^{73m}$Ga state with half-life of 0.5 s. The nnn-decays of $^{76}$Ge that proceed via $^{73m}$Ge are also included in our analysis. We find no signal candidate and place a limit on the sum of the decay widths of the inclusive tri-nucleon decays that corresponds to a lower lifetime limit of 1.2x10$^{26}$ yr (90% credible interval). This result improves previous limits for tri-nucleon decays by one to three orders of magnitude., Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables

Inner-shell electrons naturally sense the electric field close to the nucleus, which can reach extreme values beyond $10^{15}\,\text{V}/\text{cm}$ for the innermost electrons. Especially in few-electron highly charged ions, the interaction with the electromagnetic fields can be accurately calculated within quantum electrodynamics (QED), rendering these ions good candidates to test the validity of QED in strong fields. Consequently, their Lamb shifts were intensively studied in the last decades. Another approach is the measurement of $g$ factors in highly charged ions. However, so far, either experimental accuracy or small field strength in low-$Z$ ions limited the stringency of these QED tests. Here, we report on our high-precision, high-field test of QED in hydrogenlike $^{118}$Sn$^{49+}$. The highly charged ions were produced with the Heidelberg-EBIT (electron beam ion trap) and injected into the ALPHATRAP Penning-trap setup, where the bound-electron $g$ factor was measured with a precision of 0.5 parts-per-billion. For comparison, we present state-of-the-art theory calculations, which together test the underlying QED to about $0.012\,\%$, yielding a stringent test in the strong-field regime. With this measurement, we challenge the best tests via the Lamb shift and, with anticipated advances in the $g$-factor theory, surpass them by more than an order of magnitude.

This report offers analysis of the University of Tennessee's Diversity Action Plans. Every academic college and every Vice-Chancellor Unit on campus issued plans. True to Chancellor Donde Plowman's vision, these colleges and units propose extensive and ideologically-charged reforms. The National Association of Scholars finds in these plans nothing short of a blueprint for an institutional overhaul--the anatomy of a diversity, equity, and inclusion takeover. Such a takeover will have obvious implications for education at the University of Tennessee. The National Association of Scholars believes that true education will erode and indoctrination will flourish. These plans, moreover, reveal in extensive detail what an exhaustive diversity, equity, and inclusion program looks like. Thus the report provides a case study in the rolling revolution under way in academia.

This study examines the civics education offered in Texas, looking first at the American history and government requirements at the state's top public universities. Texas's six public universities that rank highest in the U.S. News and World Report 2022 rankings have been selected: The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), Texas A&M University, The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), Texas Tech University, The University of Houston, and Sam Houston State University. The study finds that Texas's civics and history requirements have not been uniformly enforced. Some universities, especially those that are more highly ranked such as UT Austin and UT Dallas, take advantage of loopholes to undermine legislative intent. The second part of this report examines the rise of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) measures in these six Texas universities and shows how such measures have subjected Texas's higher education to bureaucratic growth and an increasing volume of explicitly politicized curricular and "co-curricular" content.

The port-Hamiltonian approach presents an energy-based modeling of dynamical systems with energy-conservative and energy-dissipative parts as well as an interconnection over the so-called ports. In this paper, we apply an operator splitting that treats the energy-conservative and energy-dissipative parts separately. This paves the way for linear equation solvers to exploit the respective special structures of the iteration matrices as well as the multirate potential in the different right-hand sides. We illustrate the approach using test examples from coupled multibody system dynamics., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures