--- OA_place: publisher _id: '20551' abstract: - lang: eng text: "The space of codimension-2 shapes, such as curves in 3D and surfaces in 4D, is an infinite-dimensional manifold. This thesis explores geometric structures and dynamics on this space, with emphasis on their implications for physics, particularly hydrodynamics.\r\n\r\nOur investigation ranges from theoretical studies of infinite-dimensional symplectic and prequantum geometry to numerical computation of the time evolution of shapes. The thesis presents four main contributions.\r\n\r\nIn the first part, we introduce implicit representations of codimension-2 shapes using a class of complex-valued functions, and prove that the space of these implicit representations forms a prequantum bundle over the codimension-2 shape space. This reveals a new geometric interpretation of the canonical symplectic structure on the codimension-2 shape space.\r\n\r\nIn the second part, we use implicit representations to develop a simulation method for the dynamics of space curves. To handle chaotic systems such as vortex filaments in hydrodynamics, we exploit the infinite degrees of freedom, hidden in both the configuration and dynamics of implicit representations.\r\n\r\nIn the third part, we introduce new symplectic structures on the space of space curves, which generalize the only previously known symplectic structure on this space, allowing for new Hamiltonian dynamics of space curves.\r\n\r\nIn the fourth part, we apply a symplectic viewpoint to a differential geometric problem with practical applications. We derive a new area formula for spherical polygons via prequantization. " acknowledged_ssus: - _id: CampIT acknowledgement: "Projects contained in this thesis were financially supported in part by the\r\nEuropean Research Council with grants 1. ERC Consolidator Grant 101045083 CoDiNA,\r\nand 2. the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant\r\nagreement No. 638176." alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Sadashige full_name: Ishida, Sadashige id: 6F7C4B96-A8E9-11E9-A7CA-09ECE5697425 last_name: Ishida orcid: 0000-0002-3121-3100 citation: ama: Ishida S. Symplectic-prequantum structures and dynamics on the codimension-2 shape space. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20551 apa: Ishida, S. (2025). Symplectic-prequantum structures and dynamics on the codimension-2 shape space. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20551 chicago: Ishida, Sadashige. “Symplectic-Prequantum Structures and Dynamics on the Codimension-2 Shape Space.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20551. ieee: S. Ishida, “Symplectic-prequantum structures and dynamics on the codimension-2 shape space,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Ishida S. 2025. Symplectic-prequantum structures and dynamics on the codimension-2 shape space. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Ishida, Sadashige. Symplectic-Prequantum Structures and Dynamics on the Codimension-2 Shape Space. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20551. short: S. Ishida, Symplectic-Prequantum Structures and Dynamics on the Codimension-2 Shape Space, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-10-27T10:28:52Z date_published: 2025-10-31T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-04-07T12:02:23Z day: '31' ddc: - '516' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: ChWo doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-20551 ec_funded: 1 file: - access_level: open_access checksum: 4eef80afcb67691cbb6549c4756fa534 content_type: application/zip creator: sishida date_created: 2025-11-01T18:26:14Z date_updated: 2025-11-01T18:26:14Z file_id: '20583' file_name: Thesis_tex.zip file_size: 72487812 relation: source_file - access_level: open_access checksum: 1e5a557900bf2dce01966b211b15d0fe content_type: application/pdf creator: sishida date_created: 2025-11-10T08:45:05Z date_updated: 2025-11-10T08:45:05Z file_id: '20623' file_name: Thesis_Sadashige_Ishida_PDFA.pdf file_size: 8945141 relation: main_file success: 1 file_date_updated: 2025-11-10T08:45:05Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '10' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '141' project: - _id: 2533E772-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 call_identifier: H2020 grant_number: '638176' name: 'Big Splash: Efficient Simulation of Natural Phenomena at Extremely Large Scales' - _id: 34bc2376-11ca-11ed-8bc3-9a3b3961a088 grant_number: '101045083' name: Computational Discovery of Numerical Algorithms for Animation and Simulation of Natural Phenomena publication_identifier: isbn: - 978-3-99078-070-1 issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '12846' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '12431' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '17361' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '20580' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Christopher J full_name: Wojtan, Christopher J id: 3C61F1D2-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Wojtan orcid: 0000-0001-6646-5546 - first_name: Albert full_name: Chern, Albert last_name: Chern title: Symplectic-prequantum structures and dynamics on the codimension-2 shape space tmp: image: /images/cc_by.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0) short: CC BY (4.0) type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '20575' abstract: - lang: eng text: "This thesis deals with eigenvalue and eigenvector universality results for random matrix ensembles equipped with non-trivial spatial structure. We consider both mean-field models with a general variance profile (Wigner-type matrices) and correlation structure (correlated matrices) among the entries, as well as non-mean-field random band matrices with bandwidth W >> N^(1/2).\r\n\r\nTo extract the universal properties of random matrix spectra and eigenvectors, we obtain concentration estimates for their resolvent, the local laws, which generalize the celebrated Wigner semicircle law for a broad class of random matrices to much finer spectral scales. The local laws hold for both a single resolvent as well as for products of multiple resolvents, known as resolvent chains, and express the remarkable approximately-deterministic behavior of these objects down to the microscopic scale.\r\n\r\nOur primary tool for establishing the local laws is the dynamical Zigzag strategy, which we develop in the setting of spatially-inhomogeneous random matrices. Our proof method systematically addresses the challenges arising from non-trivial spatial structures and is robust to all types of singularities in the spectrum, as we demonstrate in the correlated setting. Furthermore, we incorporate the analysis of the deterministic resolvent chain approximations into the dynamical framework of the Zigzag strategy, synthesizing a unified toolkit for establishing multi-resolvent local laws.\r\n\r\nUsing these methods, we prove complete eigenvector delocalization, the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis, and Wigner-Dyson universality in the bulk for random band matrices down to the optimal bandwidth W >> N^(1/2). For mean-field ensembles, we establish universality of local eigenvalue statistics at the cups for random matrices with correlated entries, and the Eigenstate Thermalization Hypothesis for Wigner-type matrices in the bulk of the spectrum.\r\n\r\nFinally, this thesis also contains other applications of the multi-resolvent local laws to spatially-inhomogeneous random matrices, obtained prior to the development of the Zigzag strategy. In particular, we provide a complete analysis of mesoscopic linear-eigenvalue statistics of Wigner-type matrices in all spectral regimes, including the novel cusps, and rigorously establish the prethermalization phenomenon for deformed Wigner matrices.\r\n\r\nThe main body of this thesis consists of seven research papers (listed on page xi), each presented in a separate chapter with its own introduction and all relevant context, suitable to be read independently. We ask the reader’s indulgence for the repetitions in the historical overviews and other minor redundancies that remain among the chapters as a result. The overall Introduction, preceding the chapters, provides a condensed, informal summary of the main ideas and concepts at the core of these works.\r\n" acknowledgement: "The work comprising this thesis was supported by the ERC Advanced Grant \"RMTBeyond\"\r\nNo.101020331 awarded to my advisor." alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Volodymyr full_name: Riabov, Volodymyr id: 1949f904-edfb-11eb-afb5-e2dfddabb93b last_name: Riabov citation: ama: Riabov V. Universality in random matrices with spatial structure. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20575 apa: Riabov, V. (2025). Universality in random matrices with spatial structure. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20575 chicago: Riabov, Volodymyr. “Universality in Random Matrices with Spatial Structure.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20575. ieee: V. Riabov, “Universality in random matrices with spatial structure,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Riabov V. 2025. Universality in random matrices with spatial structure. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Riabov, Volodymyr. Universality in Random Matrices with Spatial Structure. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20575. short: V. Riabov, Universality in Random Matrices with Spatial Structure, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-10-29T19:12:24Z date_published: 2025-11-03T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-04-07T12:32:20Z day: '3' ddc: - '515' - '519' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: LaEr doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-20575 ec_funded: 1 file: - access_level: open_access checksum: 6a0487b2b66bb35d44b394756d44b8b4 content_type: application/pdf creator: vriabov date_created: 2025-10-29T18:53:59Z date_updated: 2025-10-29T18:53:59Z file_id: '20577' file_name: riabov_thesis-pdfa.pdf file_size: 7536583 relation: main_file success: 1 - access_level: closed checksum: 224efda6bf9864d296a1e5e0124c1e8f content_type: application/x-zip-compressed creator: vriabov date_created: 2025-10-29T18:54:53Z date_updated: 2025-10-29T18:54:53Z file_id: '20578' file_name: manuscript.zip file_size: 17841612 relation: source_file file_date_updated: 2025-10-29T18:54:53Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '11' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '436' project: - _id: 62796744-2b32-11ec-9570-940b20777f1d call_identifier: H2020 grant_number: '101020331' name: Random matrices beyond Wigner-Dyson-Mehta publication_identifier: isbn: - 978-3-99078-064-0 issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '20322' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '18764' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '13317' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '19368' relation: part_of_dissertation status: deleted - id: '18554' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '20576' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '17174' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '19547' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '19598' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: László full_name: Erdös, László id: 4DBD5372-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Erdös orcid: 0000-0001-5366-9603 title: Universality in random matrices with spatial structure tmp: image: /images/cc_by.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0) short: CC BY (4.0) type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '20607' acknowledged_ssus: - _id: Bio - _id: SSU - _id: LifeSc - _id: M-Shop acknowledgement: "I gratefully acknowledge the support of the ISTA Graduate School and the Scientific Service Units of\r\nISTA, whose resources made this work possible—especially the Imaging & Optics Facility, the Lab\r\nSupport Facility, and the Miba Machine Shop. I would like to thank two staff scientists in particular:\r\nRobert Hauschild (Imaging & Optics Facility) and Daniel Balazs (Lab Support Facility), for their\r\nassistance and advice. My PhD was partially funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF)\r\n(10.55776/P37169 and 10.55776/COE5)." alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Soumyadip full_name: Mondal, Soumyadip id: d25d21ef-dc8d-11ea-abe3-ec4576307f48 last_name: Mondal citation: ama: 'Mondal S. Oxygen and sulfur redox : Conversion kinetics and phase equilibria. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20607' apa: 'Mondal, S. (2025). Oxygen and sulfur redox : Conversion kinetics and phase equilibria. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20607' chicago: 'Mondal, Soumyadip. “Oxygen and Sulfur Redox : Conversion Kinetics and Phase Equilibria.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20607.' ieee: 'S. Mondal, “Oxygen and sulfur redox : Conversion kinetics and phase equilibria,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025.' ista: 'Mondal S. 2025. Oxygen and sulfur redox : Conversion kinetics and phase equilibria. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.' mla: 'Mondal, Soumyadip. Oxygen and Sulfur Redox : Conversion Kinetics and Phase Equilibria. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20607.' short: 'S. Mondal, Oxygen and Sulfur Redox : Conversion Kinetics and Phase Equilibria, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025.' corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-11-07T12:40:54Z date_published: 2025-09-19T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-04-07T12:27:24Z day: '19' ddc: - '541' - '543' - '542' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: StFr doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-20607 file: - access_level: closed checksum: b5eed6a3dccb83cd2a8a22e11fd7d867 content_type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document creator: smondal date_created: 2025-11-13T16:47:47Z date_updated: 2025-11-13T16:47:47Z file_id: '20644' file_name: 2025_Mondal_Soumyadip_Thesis.docx file_size: 32589295 relation: source_file - access_level: closed checksum: 89b1529e0a7b524f46624d73ecadf8cb content_type: application/pdf creator: smondal date_created: 2025-11-13T16:47:46Z date_updated: 2025-11-13T16:47:46Z embargo: 2026-11-13 embargo_to: open_access file_id: '20645' file_name: 2025_Mondal_Soumyadip_Thesis.pdf file_size: 5007370 relation: main_file file_date_updated: 2025-11-13T16:47:47Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '09' oa_version: Published Version page: '71' project: - _id: 8df062be-16d5-11f0-9cad-f559b6612c7e grant_number: P37169 name: Singlet oxygen in non-aqueous oxygen redox chemistry publication_identifier: isbn: - 978-3-99078-071-8 issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '12065' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '13044' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '20437' relation: part_of_dissertation status: deleted - id: '14687' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Stefan Alexander full_name: Freunberger, Stefan Alexander id: A8CA28E6-CE23-11E9-AD2D-EC27E6697425 last_name: Freunberger orcid: 0000-0003-2902-5319 title: 'Oxygen and sulfur redox : Conversion kinetics and phase equilibria' tmp: image: /images/cc_by.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0) short: CC BY (4.0) type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '20737' acknowledged_ssus: - _id: Bio - _id: PreCl acknowledgement: "I also want to thank ISTA and the Austrian Science Fund FWF SFB F78 (F7805) for financially\r\nsupporting my research." alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Raquel full_name: Casado Polanco, Raquel id: 15240fc1-dbcd-11ea-9d1d-ac5a786425fd last_name: Casado Polanco orcid: 0000-0001-8293-4568 citation: ama: Casado Polanco R. Role of NOTCH signaling in radial glial progenitor lineage progression. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20737 apa: Casado Polanco, R. (2025). Role of NOTCH signaling in radial glial progenitor lineage progression. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20737 chicago: Casado Polanco, Raquel. “Role of NOTCH Signaling in Radial Glial Progenitor Lineage Progression.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20737. ieee: R. Casado Polanco, “Role of NOTCH signaling in radial glial progenitor lineage progression,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Casado Polanco R. 2025. Role of NOTCH signaling in radial glial progenitor lineage progression. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Casado Polanco, Raquel. Role of NOTCH Signaling in Radial Glial Progenitor Lineage Progression. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20737. short: R. Casado Polanco, Role of NOTCH Signaling in Radial Glial Progenitor Lineage Progression, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-12-09T09:04:18Z date_published: 2025-12-09T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-04-14T08:16:58Z day: '09' ddc: - '570' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: SiHi doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-20737 file: - access_level: closed checksum: 71e0fdf4619b0d70d03657ad7348137d content_type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document creator: rcasadop date_created: 2025-12-11T09:28:09Z date_updated: 2025-12-11T11:18:37Z file_id: '20793' file_name: 2025_CasadoPolanco_Raquel_Thesis.docx file_size: 78207207 relation: source_file - access_level: closed checksum: 58cf2f25c33567723bc754a019c3e396 content_type: application/pdf creator: rcasadop date_created: 2025-12-11T09:28:04Z date_updated: 2025-12-11T09:28:04Z embargo: 2026-12-01 embargo_to: open_access file_id: '20794' file_name: 2025_CasadoPolanco_Raquel_Thesis.pdf file_size: 6261874 relation: main_file file_date_updated: 2025-12-11T11:18:37Z has_accepted_license: '1' keyword: - NOTCH - radial glial progenitor - lineage progression - cortical development language: - iso: eng month: '12' oa_version: Published Version page: '133' project: - _id: 059F6AB4-7A3F-11EA-A408-12923DDC885E grant_number: F7805 name: Stem Cell Modulation in Neural Development and Regeneration/ P05-Molecular Mechanisms of Neural Stem Cell Lineage Progression publication_identifier: isbn: - 978-3-99078-072-5 issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria status: public supervisor: - first_name: Simon full_name: Hippenmeyer, Simon id: 37B36620-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Hippenmeyer orcid: 0000-0003-2279-1061 title: Role of NOTCH signaling in radial glial progenitor lineage progression type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '20741' abstract: - lang: eng text: "Life on Earth emerged when biomacromolecules were membrane-enclosed in a confined space where many essential chemical reactions were more likely to happen and thereby accelerate evolution. These kinds of membranes separated internal reactions from the outside chaos while staying flexible so that those primordial cells can move, adopt their shape and, most importantly, propagate. Such membrane plasticity still remains a defining feature of all modern cell types. This remarkable ability to change their shape is most prominently observed during their propagation (i.e., cell division). Throughout division, a cell undergoes drastic change in its shape, usually at the middle of the cell, pulling the two opposite membrane sides inward, closer to each other, and, finally, culminating in pinching off to separate the cell into two daughter cells. To achieve this, a cell needs to employ a protein machinery, usually termed divisome, that can coordinate all necessary intracellular processes with membrane remodelling and synthesis of other extracellular structures that decorate a cell. The focus of this dissertation is a membrane-remodelling FtsZ system that is present across all domains of life. FtsZ forms filaments that further self-organize into ring-like structures at the cell septum and together with other division proteins perform cell envelope synthesis and constriction. However, there are still knowledge gaps in our mechanistic understanding of division in both archaea and bacteria. My work presented in this dissertation centres around a simple yet not well understood question: How is the divisome positioned correctly at the mid-cell? To achieve the proper positioning, the divisome needs to (i) be recruited to the mid-cell and (ii) localized orthogonally to the long cell axis. I tackle these processes in two different systems by applying an in vitro biochemical bottom-up reconstitution approach. I use purified components of Haloferax volcanii and Escherichia coli divisome to explore how divisome is recruited to the mid-cell in archaea and how the Z-ring positions orthogonally to the long cell axis in bacteria, respectively. \r\n\r\nFirstly, I collaborate with archaeal cell and structural biologists to explore the assembly of early division proteins in two FtsZ-containing archaeon H. volcanii, a standard model system for understudied archaeal organisms. I particularly address the hierarchy of interactions that allow a tripartite complex formation (SepF-CdpB1-CdpB2) and how the hierarchy of interactions ultimately leads to the recruitment of FtsZ filaments to the septum. This part of work has been published in (Nußbaum et al., 2024). In collaboration with evolutionary biologists, I shed light on ancient features that archaeal divisome has retained to this day and also speculate on a property that it might have lost during the course of evolution. \r\n\r\nNext, I switch my attention to E. coli divisome. Particularly, I address the FtsZ’s intrinsic biophysical property that drives the Z-ring diameter, and thereby the perpendicular orientation of the Z-ring to the long cell axis based on suggested membrane curvature sensing mechanism (Vanhille-Campos et al., 2024). This property allows formation of different Z-ring diameters that match the variety of cell diameters present in prokaryotes. The results showcase that the distribution of charged amino acids in the intrinsically disordered linker at the C-terminus (CTL) of FtsZ is the major determining factor of Z-ring diameter with inter-CTL interactions as an underlying mechanism. \r\n\r\nFinally, I thoroughly explain the methodology I used to address the abovementioned projects, and I finish with a discussion on how early archaeal divisome assembly and curvature sensing mechanism in bacteria, at first sight unrelated topics, are interconnected and important groundwork for both fundamental and translational research. " acknowledged_ssus: - _id: Bio alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Marko full_name: Kojic, Marko id: 73e7ecd4-dc85-11ea-9058-88a16394b160 last_name: Kojic orcid: 0000-0001-7244-8128 citation: ama: Kojic M. Towards understanding the assembly mechanisms of the Z-ring in Archaea and Bacteria. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20741 apa: Kojic, M. (2025). Towards understanding the assembly mechanisms of the Z-ring in Archaea and Bacteria. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20741 chicago: Kojic, Marko. “Towards Understanding the Assembly Mechanisms of the Z-Ring in Archaea and Bacteria.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20741. ieee: M. Kojic, “Towards understanding the assembly mechanisms of the Z-ring in Archaea and Bacteria,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Kojic M. 2025. Towards understanding the assembly mechanisms of the Z-ring in Archaea and Bacteria. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Kojic, Marko. Towards Understanding the Assembly Mechanisms of the Z-Ring in Archaea and Bacteria. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20741. short: M. Kojic, Towards Understanding the Assembly Mechanisms of the Z-Ring in Archaea and Bacteria, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-12-09T13:08:11Z date_published: 2025-12-09T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-04-07T12:27:58Z day: '09' ddc: - '572' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: MaLo doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-20741 file: - access_level: closed checksum: a3643d07e93134b2490a566b02a4517d content_type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document creator: mkojic date_created: 2025-12-10T13:09:58Z date_updated: 2025-12-10T13:09:58Z file_id: '20774' file_name: 2025_marko_kojic_thesis.docx file_size: 142876975 relation: source_file - access_level: open_access checksum: 0a096f0af6ccc3a8329d5bb8797ad533 content_type: application/pdf creator: mkojic date_created: 2025-12-10T13:09:38Z date_updated: 2025-12-10T13:09:38Z file_id: '20775' file_name: 2025_marko_kojic_thesis.pdf file_size: 8597045 relation: main_file success: 1 file_date_updated: 2025-12-10T13:09:58Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '12' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version publication_identifier: isbn: - 978-3-99078-073-2 issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '15118' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Martin full_name: Loose, Martin id: 462D4284-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Loose orcid: 0000-0001-7309-9724 title: Towards understanding the assembly mechanisms of the Z-ring in Archaea and Bacteria tmp: image: /images/cc_by.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0) short: CC BY (4.0) type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '20811' abstract: - lang: eng text: "\tThis thesis is organized into two parts, each comprising two chapters: Chapter 1 and 2 offer models for the evolution of vaccine resistance in response to diverse vaccination strategies. Chapter 3 and 4 review the statistics of records, their connection to models of innovation and an application to the cultural evolution of sports.\r\n\tIn chapter 1 we present a modelling study from 2021 on the evolution of SARS-CoV-2. At that time the vaccine-resistant Omicron variant had not yet evolved. In our model we consider a population that is becoming vaccinated over time, while a pathogen is spreading in the population and eventually becoming resistant to the vaccine. We explore effective pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions to prevent the emergence of vaccine resistance. \r\n\tIn chapter 2 we model a particular set of complex vaccination strategies, mosaic and pyramid vaccination, where an immunologically diverse portfolio of vaccines is considered. We find that a bet-hatching strategy, in which vaccine types are distributed in the population, is effective at hindering the evolution of vaccine resistance if mutation rates are high. \r\n\tIn chapter 3 we switch gears and present a review on the statistics of records. We highlight similarities and analogies to other models in the fields of statistical physics, evolution and innovation. This offers interesting complimentary perspectives on well-known models. \r\n\tIn chapter 4 we apply models of record statistics and innovation to study cultural evolution in sport. We propose a model of sport evolution that combines deterministic improvements in performance and stochastic bursts of improvements due to innovation. " alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Simon full_name: Rella, Simon id: B4765ACA-AA38-11E9-AC9A-0930E6697425 last_name: Rella citation: ama: 'Rella S. Adaptive processes in biology and culture : Models of evolving vaccine resistance and the record statistics of innovation. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20811' apa: 'Rella, S. (2025). Adaptive processes in biology and culture : Models of evolving vaccine resistance and the record statistics of innovation. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20811' chicago: 'Rella, Simon. “Adaptive Processes in Biology and Culture : Models of Evolving Vaccine Resistance and the Record Statistics of Innovation.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20811.' ieee: 'S. Rella, “Adaptive processes in biology and culture : Models of evolving vaccine resistance and the record statistics of innovation,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025.' ista: 'Rella S. 2025. Adaptive processes in biology and culture : Models of evolving vaccine resistance and the record statistics of innovation. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.' mla: 'Rella, Simon. Adaptive Processes in Biology and Culture : Models of Evolving Vaccine Resistance and the Record Statistics of Innovation. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20811.' short: 'S. Rella, Adaptive Processes in Biology and Culture : Models of Evolving Vaccine Resistance and the Record Statistics of Innovation, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025.' corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-12-12T14:39:56Z date_published: 2025-12-15T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-04-07T12:34:58Z day: '15' ddc: - '616' - '576' - '614' - '519' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: GaTk - _id: FyKo doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-20811 file: - access_level: open_access checksum: a0bd7a585720e60df284101b8afdf6bb content_type: application/pdf creator: srella date_created: 2025-12-16T21:49:52Z date_updated: 2025-12-16T21:49:52Z file_id: '20831' file_name: 2025_Rella_Simon_Thesis.pdf file_size: 29019662 relation: main_file success: 1 - access_level: open_access checksum: b8b3a90932ae1d96d307838710f46e32 content_type: application/zip creator: srella date_created: 2025-12-16T21:52:19Z date_updated: 2025-12-16T21:52:19Z file_id: '20832' file_name: 2025_Rella_Simon_Thesis_Sourcefiles.zip file_size: 42094025 relation: source_file file_date_updated: 2025-12-16T21:52:19Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '12' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '95' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '18307' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '9905' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Gašper full_name: Tkačik, Gašper id: 3D494DCA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Tkačik orcid: 0000-0002-6699-1455 - first_name: Fyodor full_name: Kondrashov, Fyodor id: 44FDEF62-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Kondrashov orcid: 0000-0001-8243-4694 title: 'Adaptive processes in biology and culture : Models of evolving vaccine resistance and the record statistics of innovation' tmp: image: /images/cc_by_nc_nd.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) short: CC BY-NC-ND (4.0) type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '20364' acknowledged_ssus: - _id: LifeSc - _id: Bio acknowledgement: "Plant Facility,\r\nProtein Service Facility" alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Caterina full_name: Giannini, Caterina id: e3fdddd5-f6e0-11ea-865d-ca99ee6367f4 last_name: Giannini citation: ama: Giannini C. Nuclear and cell surface auxin signaling in A. thaliana developmental transitions. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20364 apa: Giannini, C. (2025). Nuclear and cell surface auxin signaling in A. thaliana developmental transitions. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20364 chicago: Giannini, Caterina. “Nuclear and Cell Surface Auxin Signaling in A. Thaliana Developmental Transitions.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20364. ieee: C. Giannini, “Nuclear and cell surface auxin signaling in A. thaliana developmental transitions,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Giannini C. 2025. Nuclear and cell surface auxin signaling in A. thaliana developmental transitions. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Giannini, Caterina. Nuclear and Cell Surface Auxin Signaling in A. Thaliana Developmental Transitions. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20364. short: C. Giannini, Nuclear and Cell Surface Auxin Signaling in A. Thaliana Developmental Transitions, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-09-19T12:23:38Z date_published: 2025-09-19T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-07-06T12:51:13Z day: '19' ddc: - '580' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: JiFr - _id: MaLo doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-20364 file: - access_level: closed checksum: 536ba1701453b0b2346be14c046b2911 content_type: application/pdf creator: cgiannin date_created: 2025-09-24T14:46:34Z date_updated: 2025-09-30T14:31:29Z embargo: 2026-09-30 embargo_to: open_access file_id: '20390' file_name: 2025_Giannini_Caterina_Thesis...pdf file_size: 14278965 relation: main_file - access_level: closed checksum: 192f55262f2da2ea0a59d9c23a1b8573 content_type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document creator: cgiannin date_created: 2025-09-24T14:46:35Z date_updated: 2025-09-24T14:46:35Z file_id: '20391' file_name: 2025_Giannini_Caterina_Thesis...docx file_size: 24499022 relation: source_file file_date_updated: 2025-09-30T14:31:29Z has_accepted_license: '1' keyword: - Auxin Signaling - Plant Development language: - iso: eng month: '09' oa_version: Published Version page: '151' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '12291' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '19399' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Jiří full_name: Friml, Jiří id: 4159519E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Friml orcid: 0000-0002-8302-7596 title: Nuclear and cell surface auxin signaling in A. thaliana developmental transitions type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '20441' abstract: - lang: eng text: "Epithelial spreading plays a pivotal role in the development of organisms especially those\r\nsuch as zebrafish which require the epithelial enveloping layer (EVL) to spread to cover the\r\nsubstantial yolk surface during gastrulation. Epiboly requires the transition of the epithelium\r\nwith cuboidal cells to form a thin, flat squamous epithelial sheet. During this transition, the\r\ncells show tissue-scale mechanosensation with mechanisms such as direct mechanical control\r\nover the axis of cell division.\r\nCytoskeletal intermediate filaments play a crucial role in vertebrate cells, not only facilitating\r\nmechanical stability but also helping facilitate the mechanosensitive response of the cell.\r\nMechanosenstivity displayed by intermediate filaments is due not just to their interesting\r\nphysical properties but also to their interactions with other cytoskeletal elements such as actin\r\nand microtubules. Keratin is the predominant intermediate filament expressed in the EVL.\r\nIt expresses concomitantly with the gastrulation movements of the developing embryo. Our\r\nwork focuses on understanding the role and dynamics of the keratin cytoskeletal network in\r\nmodulating the physical aspects of EVL spreading. We demonstrated with the combination of\r\nphysical characterisation and manipulations of the EVL, utilising a variety of biophysical tools\r\nand microscopy, the mechanistic role of keratin in tissue spreading.\r\nGenerating novel genetic morphants and mutants, we probe the effect that the loss of the\r\nkeratin network has on the physiology of the epithelium and the developing embryo. We\r\nshow that the changing organisation of the keratin network is important for changing EVL\r\nphysical properties as the stress imposed on the EVL increases during epiboly. By modelling\r\nthe epithelium, we study how the mechanical heterogeneity in an epithelium can feed back into\r\na mechanical loop to the maturation of the keratin network and hence affect the mechanics\r\nof the epithelium. However, unlike what would be predicted by the effect of intermediate\r\nfilaments in acting as a security belt and increasing the resistance of the epithelium, we observe\r\nthat loss of keratin leads to a delay in the EVL movement. Using both local aspirations of the\r\nYSL and EVL ablations, we demonstrate the mechanistic facilitation of actin mechanosensation\r\nin a keratin-dependent manner.\r\nFurthermore, using chemical inhibitors of microtubule polymerisation, we provide insight into\r\nthe mechanisms underlying the organisation and distribution of keratin. Interestingly, the\r\nphenotype observed upon this loss of microtubules shows that keratins interact with the nucleus\r\nthrough microtubular interactions. Together with these diverse observations, we describe\r\nthe mechanosensory feedback between resilience and that is critical for uniform and robust\r\nspreading of the epithelium." acknowledged_ssus: - _id: Bio - _id: LifeSc acknowledgement: "I would also like to thank the LSF and Cryo facility at ISTA, which have been helpful in my\r\nexperiments. I would also like to acknowledge FWF, grant DOI 10.55776/PAT5044023 and JKU Nanocell grant DOI \r\n10.55776/W1250 for providing funding for my PhD research. EMBO and FWF for providing funding for travel grants to attend conferences." alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Suyash full_name: Naik, Suyash id: 2C0B105C-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Naik orcid: 0000-0001-8421-5508 citation: ama: Naik S. Keratins act as global coordinators of tissue spreading through mechanosensitive feedback. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20441 apa: Naik, S. (2025). Keratins act as global coordinators of tissue spreading through mechanosensitive feedback. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20441 chicago: Naik, Suyash. “Keratins Act as Global Coordinators of Tissue Spreading through Mechanosensitive Feedback.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20441. ieee: S. Naik, “Keratins act as global coordinators of tissue spreading through mechanosensitive feedback,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Naik S. 2025. Keratins act as global coordinators of tissue spreading through mechanosensitive feedback. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Naik, Suyash. Keratins Act as Global Coordinators of Tissue Spreading through Mechanosensitive Feedback. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20441. short: S. Naik, Keratins Act as Global Coordinators of Tissue Spreading through Mechanosensitive Feedback, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-10-10T14:58:30Z date_published: 2025-10-12T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-07-06T12:51:41Z day: '12' ddc: - '596' - '597' - '532' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: CaHe - _id: EdHa doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-20441 file: - access_level: open_access checksum: 2892f04d4a5c18677871c3e06ac1244a content_type: application/pdf creator: snaik date_created: 2025-10-28T13:10:08Z date_updated: 2025-10-28T13:10:08Z file_id: '20567' file_name: Thesis_PDFA_.pdf file_size: 6846189 relation: main_file success: 1 - access_level: open_access checksum: 15934d4465cd0e9b7c32678da9a33a2f content_type: application/zip creator: snaik date_created: 2025-10-28T13:10:26Z date_updated: 2025-10-28T13:10:26Z file_id: '20568' file_name: Thesis.zip file_size: 8839300 relation: source_file file_date_updated: 2025-10-28T13:10:26Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ month: '10' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '105' project: - _id: 8f060199-16d5-11f0-9cad-f3253b266c46 grant_number: PAT 5044023 name: Keratins in epithelial tissue spreading - _id: 25AA5F24-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 call_identifier: FWF grant_number: W 1250-B20 name: Nano-Analytics of Cellular Systems publication_identifier: isbn: - 978-3-99078-069-5 issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '20465' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Carl-Philipp J full_name: Heisenberg, Carl-Philipp J id: 39427864-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Heisenberg orcid: 0000-0002-0912-4566 - first_name: Edouard B full_name: Hannezo, Edouard B id: 3A9DB764-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Hannezo orcid: 0000-0001-6005-1561 title: Keratins act as global coordinators of tissue spreading through mechanosensitive feedback tmp: image: /images/cc_by_sa.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-SA 4.0) short: CC BY-SA (4.0) type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '19478' acknowledged_ssus: - _id: Bio - _id: LifeSc acknowledgement: "This project was funded by the European Research Council Advanced Grant (ETAP-742985),\r\nEuropean Research Council (ERC; 101142681 CYNIPS), Austrian Science Fund (FWF; P\r\n37051-B)." alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Huihuang full_name: Chen, Huihuang id: 83c96512-15b2-11ec-abd3-b7eede36184f last_name: Chen citation: ama: Chen H. The cAMP second messenger in auxin signalling. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-19478 apa: Chen, H. (2025). The cAMP second messenger in auxin signalling. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19478 chicago: Chen, Huihuang. “The CAMP Second Messenger in Auxin Signalling.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19478. ieee: H. Chen, “The cAMP second messenger in auxin signalling,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Chen H. 2025. The cAMP second messenger in auxin signalling. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Chen, Huihuang. The CAMP Second Messenger in Auxin Signalling. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-19478. short: H. Chen, The CAMP Second Messenger in Auxin Signalling, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-04-04T07:48:24Z date_published: 2025-04-04T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-07-06T12:58:58Z day: '04' ddc: - '580' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: JiFr doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-19478 ec_funded: 1 file: - access_level: closed checksum: b154973663a1bba505683faab7ae5ead content_type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document creator: hchen date_created: 2025-04-08T08:00:07Z date_updated: 2025-04-08T08:22:37Z file_id: '19526' file_name: Thesis_0403_Huihuang.docx file_size: 16344814 relation: source_file - access_level: closed checksum: 0099565f024388830c125ec17375c1a0 content_type: application/pdf creator: hchen date_created: 2025-04-08T08:00:06Z date_updated: 2025-04-09T13:53:38Z embargo: 2026-10-08 embargo_to: local file_id: '19527' file_name: Thesis_0406_PDFA_Huihuang_1.pdf file_size: 8482147 relation: main_file file_date_updated: 2025-04-09T13:53:38Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '04' oa_version: Published Version page: '118' project: - _id: 261099A6-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 call_identifier: H2020 grant_number: '742985' name: Tracing Evolution of Auxin Transport and Polarity in Plants - _id: 7bcece63-9f16-11ee-852c-ae94e099eeb6 grant_number: P37051 name: Guanylate cyclase activity of TIR1/AFBs auxin receptors - _id: 8f347782-16d5-11f0-9cad-8c19706ee739 grant_number: '101142681' name: Cyclic nucleotides as second messengers in plants publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '19421' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '13212' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Jiří full_name: Friml, Jiří id: 4159519E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Friml orcid: 0000-0002-8302-7596 title: The cAMP second messenger in auxin signalling type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '20920' abstract: - lang: eng text: "Verifiable Delay Functions (VDFs) introduced by Boneh et al. (CRYPTO'18) are functions that require a prescribed number of sequential steps T to evaluate, yet their output can be verified in time much faster than T. Since their introduction, VDFs have gained a lot of attention due to their applications in blockchain protocols, randomness beacons, timestamping and deniability. This thesis explores the theory and applications of VDFs, focusing on enhancing their soundness, efficiency and practicality.\r\n\r\nThe only practical VDFs known to date are based on repeated squaring in hidden order groups. Consider the function VDF(x,T)=x^(2^T).\r\nThe iterated squaring assumption states that, for a random group element x, the result of VDF cannot be computed significantly faster than performing T sequential squarings if the group order is unknown. To make the result verifiable a prover can compute a proof of exponentiation (PoE) \\pi. Given \\pi, the output of VDF can be verified in time much less than T.\r\n\r\nWe first present new constructions of statistically sound proofs of exponentiation, which are an important building block in the construction of SNARKs (Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge). Statistical soundness means that the proofs remain secure against computationally unbounded adversaries, in particular, it remains secure even when the group order is known. We thereby address limitations in previous PoE protocols which either required (non-standard) hardness assumptions or a lot of parallel repetitions. Our construction significantly reduces the proof size of statistically sound PoEs that allow for a structured exponent, which leads to better efficiency of SNARKs and other applications.\r\n\r\nSecondly, we introduce improved batching techniques for PoEs, which allow multiple proofs to be aggregated and verified with minimal overhead. These protocols optimize communication and computation complexity in large-scale blockchain environments and enable scalable remote benchmarking of parallel computation resources.\r\n\r\nWe then construct VDFs with enhanced properties such as zero-knowledge and watermarkability. It was shown by Arun, Bonneau and Clark (ASIACRYPT'22) that these features enable new cryptographic primitives called short-lived proofs and signatures. The validity of such proofs and signatures expires after a predefined amount of time T, i.e., they are deniable after time T. Our constructions improve upon the constructions by Arun, Bonneau and Clark in several dimensions (faster forging times, arguably weaker assumptions).\r\n\r\nFinally, we apply PoEs in the realm of primality testing, providing cryptographically sound proofs of non-primality for large Proth numbers. This work gives a surprising application of VDFs in the area of computational number theory.\r\n\r\nTogether, our contributions advance both the theoretical foundations and the real-world usability of VDFs in general and in particular of PoEs, making them more adaptable and secure for current and emerging cryptographic applications." alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Charlotte full_name: Hoffmann, Charlotte id: 0f78d746-dc7d-11ea-9b2f-83f92091afe7 last_name: Hoffmann orcid: 0000-0003-2027-5549 citation: ama: Hoffmann C. Theory and applications of verifiable delay functions. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20920 apa: Hoffmann, C. (2025). Theory and applications of verifiable delay functions. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20920 chicago: Hoffmann, Charlotte. “Theory and Applications of Verifiable Delay Functions.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20920. ieee: C. Hoffmann, “Theory and applications of verifiable delay functions,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Hoffmann C. 2025. Theory and applications of verifiable delay functions. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Hoffmann, Charlotte. Theory and Applications of Verifiable Delay Functions. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20920. short: C. Hoffmann, Theory and Applications of Verifiable Delay Functions, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2026-01-02T10:46:47Z date_published: 2025-12-31T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-07-06T13:15:27Z day: '31' ddc: - '004' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: KrPi doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-20920 file: - access_level: closed checksum: 8a099fbf54963bd0be38f7ce73658682 content_type: application/x-zip-compressed creator: choffman date_created: 2026-01-02T10:39:16Z date_updated: 2026-01-02T10:39:16Z file_id: '20921' file_name: 2025_Hoffmann_Charlotte_Source.zip file_size: 8355494 relation: source_file - access_level: open_access checksum: 9521c07bfb2bb5b14a49c09fcfc96474 content_type: application/pdf creator: choffman date_created: 2026-01-02T10:39:26Z date_updated: 2026-01-02T10:39:26Z file_id: '20922' file_name: 2025_Hoffmann_Charlotte_Thesis.pdf file_size: 2258804 relation: main_file success: 1 file_date_updated: 2026-01-02T10:39:26Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '12' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '116' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '13143' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '12176' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '20556' relation: earlier_version status: public - id: '19778' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '20701' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Krzysztof Z full_name: Pietrzak, Krzysztof Z id: 3E04A7AA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Pietrzak orcid: 0000-0002-9139-1654 title: Theory and applications of verifiable delay functions tmp: image: /images/cc_by_nc_sa.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) short: CC BY-NC-SA (4.0) type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '20556' abstract: - lang: eng text: "Verifiable Delay Functions (VDFs) introduced by Boneh et al. (CRYPTO'18) are functions that require a prescribed number of sequential steps T to evaluate, yet their output can be verified in time much faster than T. Since their introduction, VDFs have gained a lot of attention due to their applications in blockchain protocols, randomness beacons, timestamping and deniability. This thesis explores the theory and applications of VDFs, focusing on enhancing their soundness, efficiency and practicality.\r\n\r\nThe only practical VDFs known to date are based on repeated squaring in hidden order groups. Consider the function VDF(x,T)=x^(2^T).\r\nThe iterated squaring assumption states that, for a random group element x, the result of VDF cannot be computed significantly faster than performing T sequential squarings if the group order is unknown. To make the result verifiable a prover can compute a proof of exponentiation (PoE) \\pi. Given \\pi, the output of VDF can be verified in time much less than T.\r\n\r\nWe first present new constructions of statistically sound proofs of exponentiation, which are an important building block in the construction of SNARKs (Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge). Statistical soundness means that the proofs remain secure against computationally unbounded adversaries, in particular, it remains secure even when the group order is known. We thereby address limitations in previous PoE protocols which either required (non-standard) hardness assumptions or a lot of parallel repetitions. Our construction significantly reduces the proof size of statistically sound PoEs that allow for a structured exponent, which leads to better efficiency of SNARKs and other applications.\r\n\r\nSecondly, we introduce improved batching techniques for PoEs, which allow multiple proofs to be aggregated and verified with minimal overhead. These protocols optimize communication and computation complexity in large-scale blockchain environments and enable scalable remote benchmarking of parallel computation resources.\r\n\r\nWe then construct VDFs with enhanced properties such as zero-knowledge and watermarkability. It was shown by Arun, Bonneau and Clark (ASIACRYPT'22) that these features enable new cryptographic primitives called short-lived proofs and signatures. The validity of such proofs and signatures expires after a predefined amount of time T, i.e., they are deniable after time T. Our constructions improve upon the constructions by Arun, Bonneau and Clark in several dimensions (faster forging times, arguably weaker assumptions).\r\n\r\nFinally, we apply PoEs in the realm of primality testing, providing cryptographically sound proofs of non-primality for large Proth numbers. This work gives a surprising application of VDFs in the area of computational number theory.\r\n\r\nTogether, our contributions advance both the theoretical foundations and the real-world usability of VDFs in general and in particular of PoEs, making them more adaptable and secure for current and emerging cryptographic applications." alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Charlotte full_name: Hoffmann, Charlotte id: 0f78d746-dc7d-11ea-9b2f-83f92091afe7 last_name: Hoffmann orcid: 0000-0003-2027-5549 citation: ama: Hoffmann C. Theory and applications of verifiable delay functions. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20556 apa: Hoffmann, C. (2025). Theory and applications of verifiable delay functions. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20556 chicago: Hoffmann, Charlotte. “Theory and Applications of Verifiable Delay Functions.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20556. ieee: C. Hoffmann, “Theory and applications of verifiable delay functions,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Hoffmann C. 2025. Theory and applications of verifiable delay functions. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Hoffmann, Charlotte. Theory and Applications of Verifiable Delay Functions. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20556. short: C. Hoffmann, Theory and Applications of Verifiable Delay Functions, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-10-27T14:16:56Z date_published: 2025-10-31T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-07-06T13:15:27Z day: '31' ddc: - '004' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: KrPi doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-20556 file: - access_level: closed checksum: 1fffa4e2c33dd0b9f883d615504a2858 content_type: application/pdf creator: choffman date_created: 2025-10-28T14:33:03Z date_updated: 2026-01-08T14:11:39Z file_id: '20573' file_name: 2025_Hoffmann_Charlotte_Thesis.pdf file_size: 2259304 relation: main_file - access_level: closed checksum: 076ea98a1f0a86c3bbc990b6b9460dc2 content_type: application/x-zip-compressed creator: choffman date_created: 2025-10-28T14:35:06Z date_updated: 2025-11-11T09:34:54Z file_id: '20574' file_name: 2025_Hoffmann_Charlotte_Source.zip file_size: 9987633 relation: source_file file_date_updated: 2026-01-08T14:11:39Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '10' oa_version: Published Version page: '116' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '13143' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '12176' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '20920' relation: later_version status: public - id: '19778' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '20701' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Krzysztof Z full_name: Pietrzak, Krzysztof Z id: 3E04A7AA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Pietrzak orcid: 0000-0002-9139-1654 title: Theory and applications of verifiable delay functions tmp: image: /images/cc_by_nc_sa.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) short: CC BY-NC-SA (4.0) type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '19540' abstract: - lang: eng text: "This thesis deals with several different models for complex quantum mechanical systems and is structured in three main parts. \r\n\t\r\nIn Part I, we study mean field random matrices as models for quantum Hamiltonians. Our focus lies on proving concentration estimates for resolvents of random matrices, so-called local laws, mostly in the setting of multiple resolvents. These estimates have profound consequences for eigenvector overlaps and thermalization problems. More concretely, we obtain, e.g., the optimal eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH) uniformly in the spectrum for Wigner matrices, an optimal lower bound on non-Hermitian eigenvector overlaps, and prethermalization for deformed Wigner matrices.\tIn order to prove our novel multi-resolvent local laws, we develop and devise two main methods, the static Psi-method and the dynamical Zigzag strategy. \r\n\t\r\nIn Part II, we study Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory, the standard mean field microscopic theory of superconductivity. We focus on asymptotic formulas for the characteristic critical temperature and energy gap of a superconductor and prove universality of their ratio in various physical regimes. Additionally, we investigate multi-band superconductors and show that inter-band coupling effects can only enhance the critical temperature. \r\n\t\r\nIn Part III, we study quantum lattice systems. On the one hand, we show a strong version of the local-perturbations-perturb-locally (LPPL) principle for the ground state of weakly interacting quantum spin systems with a uniform on-site gap. On the other hand, we introduce a notion of a local gap and rigorously justify response theory and the Kubo formula under the weakened assumption of a local gap. \r\n\t\r\nAdditionally, we discuss two classes of problems which do not fit into the three main parts of the thesis. These are deformational rigidity of Liouville metrics on the torus and relativistic toy models of particle creation via interior-boundary-conditions (IBCs). " alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Sven Joscha full_name: Henheik, Sven Joscha id: 31d731d7-d235-11ea-ad11-b50331c8d7fb last_name: Henheik orcid: 0000-0003-1106-327X citation: ama: 'Henheik SJ. Modeling complex quantum systems : Random matrices, BCS theory, and quantum lattice systems. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-19540' apa: 'Henheik, S. J. (2025). Modeling complex quantum systems : Random matrices, BCS theory, and quantum lattice systems. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19540' chicago: 'Henheik, Sven Joscha. “Modeling Complex Quantum Systems : Random Matrices, BCS Theory, and Quantum Lattice Systems.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19540.' ieee: 'S. J. Henheik, “Modeling complex quantum systems : Random matrices, BCS theory, and quantum lattice systems,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025.' ista: 'Henheik SJ. 2025. Modeling complex quantum systems : Random matrices, BCS theory, and quantum lattice systems. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.' mla: 'Henheik, Sven Joscha. Modeling Complex Quantum Systems : Random Matrices, BCS Theory, and Quantum Lattice Systems. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-19540.' short: 'S.J. Henheik, Modeling Complex Quantum Systems : Random Matrices, BCS Theory, and Quantum Lattice Systems, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025.' corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-04-10T21:21:18Z date_published: 2025-04-10T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-07-06T13:35:36Z day: '10' ddc: - '519' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: LaEr doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-19540 ec_funded: 1 file: - access_level: closed checksum: b8477ae5578436c72c3bb4193ad34ac5 content_type: application/zip creator: shenheik date_created: 2025-04-10T21:14:18Z date_updated: 2025-04-10T21:14:18Z file_id: '19542' file_name: Henheik-Thesis_source_final.zip file_size: 4107587 relation: source_file - access_level: open_access checksum: e9fc0ea12ec46c9f71110c33217c4140 content_type: application/pdf creator: shenheik date_created: 2025-04-11T13:16:05Z date_updated: 2025-04-11T13:16:05Z file_id: '19553' file_name: Henheik-Thesis-pdfa_FINAL.pdf file_size: 9999492 relation: main_file success: 1 - access_level: closed checksum: f94580f86c785e7108eb116cd189e225 content_type: application/pdf creator: cchlebak date_created: 2025-04-23T14:10:27Z date_updated: 2025-04-23T14:10:27Z file_id: '19615' file_name: Henheik-Thesis-Volume1_print.pdf file_size: 13276442 relation: other - access_level: closed checksum: b927ead3c78020ffb32918911deedb74 content_type: application/pdf creator: cchlebak date_created: 2025-04-23T14:11:05Z date_updated: 2025-04-23T14:11:05Z file_id: '19616' file_name: Henheik-Thesis-Volume2_print.pdf file_size: 7628767 relation: other file_date_updated: 2025-04-23T14:11:05Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '04' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '720' project: - _id: 62796744-2b32-11ec-9570-940b20777f1d call_identifier: H2020 grant_number: '101020331' name: Random matrices beyond Wigner-Dyson-Mehta publication_identifier: isbn: - 978-3-99078-057-2 issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '14343' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '13317' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '11732' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '12184' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '14421' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '10623' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '18112' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '19001' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '10642' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '19545' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '19546' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '19550' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '19551' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '19552' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '14542' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '17049' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '18764' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '19547' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '19548' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '18656' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: László full_name: Erdös, László id: 4DBD5372-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Erdös orcid: 0000-0001-5366-9603 title: 'Modeling complex quantum systems : Random matrices, BCS theory, and quantum lattice systems' tmp: image: /images/cc_by.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0) short: CC BY (4.0) type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '20234' abstract: - lang: eng text: "Game Theory is the mathematical formalization of social dynamics - systems where agents interact over time and the evolution of the state of the system depends on the decisions of every player. \r\nThis thesis takes the perspective of a single player and focuses on what they can guarantee in the worst case over the behavior of other players.\r\nIn other words, we consider that the objective of every other player in the game is exactly the opposite to the player.\r\nWe focus on sustained interactions over time, where the players repeatedly obtain quantitative rewards over time, and they are interested in maximizing their long-term performance.\t\r\nFormally, this thesis focuses on zero-sum games with the liminf average objective.\r\nTwo fundamental questions that Game Theory aims to answer are the following.\r\n\r\n1. How much can a player guarantee to obtain after the interaction?\r\n\r\n2. How to act in order to obtain the previously mentioned guarantee?\r\n\r\nThese questions are formalized by the concepts of \"value\" and \"optimal strategies\". \t\r\nWe study their properties on games that exhibit one or more of the following properties. \r\n\r\n1. Partial Observation: \r\nthe players can not perfectly observe the current state of the system during the game. We consider the model of (finite) Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes and prove that finite-memory strategies are sufficient to approximately guarantee the value.\r\n\r\n2. Perturbed Description: \r\nthe formal description of the game is perturbed by a small parameter.\r\nWe consider the model of (finite) Perturbed Matrix Games, and provide algorithms to check various robustness properties and to compute the parameterized value and optimal strategies.\r\n\r\n3. Stochastic Transitions: \r\nthe actions of the players determine the behavior of the evolution of the system, described as a probability distribution over the next state.\r\nWe consider the model of (finite) Perturbed Stochastic Games and provide formulas for the marginal value.\r\n\r\n4. Infinite States: \r\nthe system can be in infinitely many states.\r\nWe consider the model of Random Dynamic Games on a class of infinite graphs, prove the existence of the value, and quantify the concentration of finite-horizon values." acknowledgement: "Funding sources The works included in this thesis were partially supported by:\r\n• Austrian Science Fund (FWF), grants 10.55776/COE12 and No RiSE/SHiNE S11407,\r\n• French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR), grants ANR-21-CE40-0020 (CONVERGENCE) and ANR-20-CE40-0002 (GrHyDy),\r\n• Fondation Mathématique Jaques Hadamard, grant PGMO RSG 2018-0031H,\r\n• European Research Council (ERC), Consolidator grant 863818 (ForM-SMArt),\r\n• Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID Chile), grant ACT210005,\r\n• Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (Fondecyt Chile), grant 1220174,\r\n• Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT Chile), grant\r\nPII 20150140,\r\n• Evaluation-orientation de la Coopération Scientifique and Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (ECOS-CONICYT), grant C15E03,\r\n• European Cooperation in Science and Technology (E-COST), grants CA16228 - European\r\nNetwork for Game Theory (GAMENET) and E-COST-GRANT-CA16228-c5a69859.\r\n" alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Raimundo J full_name: Saona Urmeneta, Raimundo J id: BD1DF4C4-D767-11E9-B658-BC13E6697425 last_name: Saona Urmeneta orcid: 0000-0001-5103-038X citation: ama: 'Saona Urmeneta RJ. Robustness of solutions in game theory : Values and strategies in partially observable, perturbed, stochastic, and infinite games. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20234' apa: 'Saona Urmeneta, R. J. (2025). Robustness of solutions in game theory : Values and strategies in partially observable, perturbed, stochastic, and infinite games. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20234' chicago: 'Saona Urmeneta, Raimundo J. “Robustness of Solutions in Game Theory : Values and Strategies in Partially Observable, Perturbed, Stochastic, and Infinite Games.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20234.' ieee: 'R. J. Saona Urmeneta, “Robustness of solutions in game theory : Values and strategies in partially observable, perturbed, stochastic, and infinite games,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025.' ista: 'Saona Urmeneta RJ. 2025. Robustness of solutions in game theory : Values and strategies in partially observable, perturbed, stochastic, and infinite games. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.' mla: 'Saona Urmeneta, Raimundo J. Robustness of Solutions in Game Theory : Values and Strategies in Partially Observable, Perturbed, Stochastic, and Infinite Games. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20234.' short: 'R.J. Saona Urmeneta, Robustness of Solutions in Game Theory : Values and Strategies in Partially Observable, Perturbed, Stochastic, and Infinite Games, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025.' corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-08-27T14:00:13Z date_published: 2025-08-27T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-07-22T06:37:12Z day: '27' ddc: - '519' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: KrCh doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-20234 ec_funded: 1 file: - access_level: open_access checksum: 394a651f7de7085e509ef856ffe7bd97 content_type: application/pdf creator: rsaonaur date_created: 2025-08-28T14:47:07Z date_updated: 2025-08-28T14:47:07Z file_id: '20240' file_name: 2025_Saona_Raimundo_Thesis.pdf file_size: 1503623 relation: main_file success: 1 - access_level: closed checksum: 09fb2633e66aac80433d373f4180c5b4 content_type: application/zip creator: rsaonaur date_created: 2025-08-28T14:47:12Z date_updated: 2025-08-28T14:47:12Z file_id: '20241' file_name: 2025_Saona_Raimundo_Thesis.zip file_size: 622747 relation: source_file file_date_updated: 2025-08-28T14:47:12Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '08' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '125' project: - _id: 25863FF4-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 call_identifier: FWF grant_number: S11407 name: Game Theory - _id: 0599E47C-7A3F-11EA-A408-12923DDC885E call_identifier: H2020 grant_number: '863818' name: 'Formal Methods for Stochastic Models: Algorithms and Applications' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '9311' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '18266' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '19508' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '17037' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Krishnendu full_name: Chatterjee, Krishnendu id: 2E5DCA20-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Chatterjee orcid: 0000-0002-4561-241X title: 'Robustness of solutions in game theory : Values and strategies in partially observable, perturbed, stochastic, and infinite games' type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '20339' abstract: - lang: eng text: "This thesis investigates the interplay between algebraic and topological methods and combinatorial problems, focusing on approximate graph colourings and mass partitioning. The unifying theme throughout the dissertation is the use of continuous maps and symmetry constraints to extract combinatorial insights.\r\n\r\nWe first explore approximate graph colouring problems and more generally promise constraint satisfaction problems. Using tools from equivariant topology in combination with the general theory of polymorphism of a promise constraint satisfaction problem, we establish hardness for specific types of approximations.\r\n\r\nIn the second part, we address mass partitioning problems, where one seeks to divide geometric objects or measures in Euclidean space into parts of equal size using hyperplanes. Employing techniques from topological combinatorics (configuration space/test map setup and Borsuk–Ulam type theorems), we both obtain a new equipartitioning result in the and provide a fast algorithm for computing equipartitioning of point sets in 3D.\r\n" alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Gianluca full_name: Tasinato, Gianluca id: 0433290C-AF8F-11E9-A4C7-F729E6697425 last_name: Tasinato citation: ama: 'Tasinato G. Topological methods in discrete geometry and theoretical computer science : Measure partitioning and constraint satisfaction problems. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20339' apa: 'Tasinato, G. (2025). Topological methods in discrete geometry and theoretical computer science : Measure partitioning and constraint satisfaction problems. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20339' chicago: 'Tasinato, Gianluca. “Topological Methods in Discrete Geometry and Theoretical Computer Science : Measure Partitioning and Constraint Satisfaction Problems.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-20339.' ieee: 'G. Tasinato, “Topological methods in discrete geometry and theoretical computer science : Measure partitioning and constraint satisfaction problems,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025.' ista: 'Tasinato G. 2025. Topological methods in discrete geometry and theoretical computer science : Measure partitioning and constraint satisfaction problems. Institute of Science and Technology Austria.' mla: 'Tasinato, Gianluca. Topological Methods in Discrete Geometry and Theoretical Computer Science : Measure Partitioning and Constraint Satisfaction Problems. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-20339.' short: 'G. Tasinato, Topological Methods in Discrete Geometry and Theoretical Computer Science : Measure Partitioning and Constraint Satisfaction Problems, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025.' corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-09-10T12:17:55Z date_published: 2025-09-10T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-07-23T11:14:45Z day: '10' ddc: - '516' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: UlWa doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-20339 file: - access_level: closed checksum: ae097a515b9bb4d4b025ca854ae2ed76 content_type: application/x-zip-compressed creator: gtasinat date_created: 2025-09-11T12:24:12Z date_updated: 2025-09-11T12:24:12Z file_id: '20344' file_name: thesis-source.zip file_size: 2218562 relation: source_file - access_level: open_access checksum: 04b2e016409e52167ce42b0eef839fbf content_type: application/pdf creator: gtasinat date_created: 2025-09-11T12:26:14Z date_updated: 2025-09-11T12:26:14Z file_id: '20345' file_name: 2025_Tasinato_Gianluca_Thesis.pdf file_size: 10071982 relation: main_file success: 1 file_date_updated: 2025-09-11T12:26:14Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '09' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '106' publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '20008' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '15168' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '19860' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Uli full_name: Wagner, Uli id: 36690CA2-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Wagner orcid: 0000-0002-1494-0568 title: 'Topological methods in discrete geometry and theoretical computer science : Measure partitioning and constraint satisfaction problems' tmp: image: /images/cc_by_nc_sa.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) short: CC BY-NC-SA (4.0) type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '18871' abstract: - lang: eng text: "\"Can we do this with a new type of computer - a quantum computer?\". This famous\r\nquotation of the brilliant Richard Feynman within a conference talk on \"Simulating physics\r\nwith computers.” is often reverently praised as the origin of the field of quantum computing.\r\nThe idea was to use quantum mechanical systems itself to simulate \"Nature\", which is\r\ninherently quantum mechanical. Now, 43 years later, the theoretical framework of how such\r\na computer can operate has been developed. Two main important concepts for a potential\r\nquantum supremacy, superposition and entanglement, have been exploited to design quantum\r\nalgorithms to significantly speed up certain tasks. Yet, the specific hardware implementation\r\nis still far from being certain, in fact the race between the most promising platforms such as\r\nsuperconducting qubits, bosonic codes, cold atoms, trapped ions, optical computing as well\r\nas spin qubits has recently intensified. If one also includes the most mature applications of\r\nquantum communication technologies, secure quantum key distribution and quantum random\r\nnumber generators, as part of a quantum information technology ecosystem, we are confronted\r\nwith a plethora of different materials, concepts, and also operation frequencies. While\r\nsuperconducting qubits, bosonic codes and spin qubits work in the regime of approximately 5\r\nGHz and are controlled by electrical fields, trapped ions, cold atoms, and optical quantum\r\ncomputing operate with light in the infrared or visible range.\r\nConsequently, a quantum frequency converter or microwave-optic transducer is required\r\nto interface the different frequency domains or establish a long-range network connection\r\nwith suitable telecom fibers. In fact, the combination of different frequency regimes is also\r\nan essential part in our classical modern communication network, where computations are\r\nperformed in electrical circuits and the information exchange over longer distances happens\r\nvia optical fibers. However, the specific challenges specific to building a quantum computer,\r\nalso apply to the development of such a quantum frequency transducer: 1) As we deal with\r\nsingle excitations as the carrier of information, i.e. the smallest possible quantity, the signal\r\ncan easily be corrupted by other noise sources which needs to be avoided by all means. This\r\nis also the reason why microwave quantum computers operate at temperature environments\r\nclose to zero temperature (< 0.1 Kelvin) to avoid corruption by thermal noise. 2) The\r\nfrequency interface generally needs to preserve the phase of the signal as an essential part\r\nof the quantum state. And 3) Quantum signals cannot be copied which would be a typical\r\nstrategy to account for errors in classical computers. And finally, there is a challenge specific to\r\nmicrowave-optic transducers: While quantum computers are operating in one specific frequency\r\ndomain, microwave-optic transducers combine microwave and optical fields in one device.\r\nThis results in the particular challenge that high-energy optical radiation, which is usually\r\nwell-shielded from superconducting microwave quantum processors, are now an essential part\r\nof the device. The concomitant optical radiation in the operating transducer will inevitably\r\nhave a detrimental effect on the superconducting microwave components. Together with the\r\nrequirement of minimal background noise for quantum-limited operation as described above,\r\nv\r\nheating from the absorption of optical photons within the same device where single microwave\r\nexcitations are processed forms a formidable challenge.\r\nThis thesis aims to address this challenge by developing microwave-optic transducers where\r\nthe impact of optical absorption on superconducting circuits in general and superconducting\r\nqubits specifically can be mitigated. In our first approach, we developed a compact device\r\nwith optimized interaction strengths between the different frequency domains. This minimizes\r\nthe optical powers used for transducer operation and thus the optical absorption heating. This\r\nwork was - to the best of our knowledge - the first comprehensive noise study, in an integrated\r\nmicrowave-optic transducer. Unfortunately, we saw that the optical absorption heating added\r\nnoise way above a single excitation. Consequently, a potential quantum signal would have\r\nbeen buried in the noise, added by the transduction.\r\nBuilding on this insight, we utilized a three-dimensional microwave-optic transducer instead\r\nof an integrated device. The larger heat capacity of the macroscopic device with a size\r\nof a few millimeters can absorb a larger fraction of the optical heating before it increases\r\nthe temperature of the device. This allowed us to interface the transducer directly with a\r\nsuperconducting qubit to readout the qubit state in a novel all-optical manner. We showed\r\nthat the microwave-optic transducer can be operated in a regime in which optical fields don’t\r\nharm the sensitive qubit. This is an important prerequisite for the operation of microwave-optic\r\ntransducers in conjunction with microwave quantum processors and brings the integration and\r\nseamless orchestration of different frequency components in a quantum network a step closer.\r\n" acknowledged_ssus: - _id: SSU - _id: M-Shop - _id: NanoFab acknowledgement: "This work was supported by the European Research Council under grant agreement no. 758053\r\n(ERC StG QUNNECT) and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research, innovation program\r\nunder grant agreement no. 899354 (FETopen SuperQuLAN) and the Austrian Science Fund\r\n(FWF) through BeyondC (F7105). I want to acknowledge generous support from the Austrian\r\nAcademy of Sciences from a DOC [Doctoral program of the Austrian Academy of Sciences]\r\nfellowship (no. 25129).\r\n" alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Georg M full_name: Arnold, Georg M id: 3770C838-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Arnold orcid: 0000-0003-1397-7876 citation: ama: Arnold GM. Microwave-optic interconnects for superconducting circuits. 2025. doi:10.15479/at:ista:18871 apa: Arnold, G. M. (2025). Microwave-optic interconnects for superconducting circuits. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:18871 chicago: Arnold, Georg M. “Microwave-Optic Interconnects for Superconducting Circuits.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/at:ista:18871. ieee: G. M. Arnold, “Microwave-optic interconnects for superconducting circuits,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Arnold GM. 2025. Microwave-optic interconnects for superconducting circuits. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Arnold, Georg M. Microwave-Optic Interconnects for Superconducting Circuits. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/at:ista:18871. short: G.M. Arnold, Microwave-Optic Interconnects for Superconducting Circuits, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-01-24T10:28:39Z date_published: 2025-01-24T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-04-16T12:20:43Z day: '24' ddc: - '530' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: JoFi - _id: GradSch doi: 10.15479/at:ista:18871 ec_funded: 1 file: - access_level: closed checksum: 71872702e8f46c275eaea44efc4d304f content_type: application/x-zip-compressed creator: cchlebak date_created: 2025-01-29T08:38:08Z date_updated: 2026-01-29T23:30:03Z embargo_to: open_access file_id: '18946' file_name: tex for upload.zip file_size: 18856130 relation: source_file - access_level: open_access checksum: dfaa06591970f4bff163705802fad56d content_type: application/pdf creator: cchlebak date_created: 2025-01-29T08:38:34Z date_updated: 2026-01-29T23:30:03Z embargo: 2026-01-29 file_id: '18947' file_name: ISTThesisGA2022_final.pdf file_size: 17344760 relation: main_file file_date_updated: 2026-01-29T23:30:03Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '01' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '135' project: - _id: 26336814-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 call_identifier: H2020 grant_number: '758053' name: A Fiber Optic Transceiver for Superconducting Qubits - _id: 9B868D20-BA93-11EA-9121-9846C619BF3A call_identifier: H2020 grant_number: '899354' name: Quantum Local Area Networks with Superconducting Qubits - _id: 2671EB66-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 name: Coherent on-chip conversion of superconducting qubit signals from microwaves to optical frequencies - _id: bdb108fd-d553-11ed-ba76-83dc74a9864f grant_number: F07105 name: QUANTUM INFORMATION SYSTEMS BEYOND CLASSICAL CAPABILITIES / P5- Integration of Superconducting Quantum Circuits publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '6609' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '8529' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '18953' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '10924' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '9114' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '13200' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Johannes M full_name: Fink, Johannes M id: 4B591CBA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Fink orcid: 0000-0001-8112-028X title: Microwave-optic interconnects for superconducting circuits tmp: image: /images/cc_by_nc_sa.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) short: CC BY-NC-SA (4.0) type: dissertation user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 year: '2025' ... --- OA_embargo: '6' OA_place: publisher _id: '19745' abstract: - lang: eng text: "Cell migration is a crucial process in animal development and maintenance. It is incredibly\r\nheterogeneous, with different cell types utilizing fundamentally distinct migration strategies.\r\nThe strategies also depend on the cellular microenvironment, where cells can switch between\r\nmigration modes as they encounter new environmental cues. In this thesis, we investigated\r\nhow dendritic cells adapt their migration strategy when encountering geometrically,\r\nmechanically and chemically distinct environments.\r\nWhen dendritic cells are embedded in a homogeneous fibrous network, they migrate in a fast\r\nand directional amoeboid manner. In this migration strategy, extracellular proteolysis and\r\nintegrin-mediated adhesions are dispensable. Instead, the cells use topography of the\r\nenvironment to propel their cell body forward. To migrate efficiently in the maze of different\r\npore sizes, they position the nucleus ahead of the microtubule organizing center (MTOC) and\r\nuse it to gauge the pores to identify the path of least resistance. Our aim was to identify\r\nwhether dendritic cells adapt their migration strategy when encountering asymmetrical\r\ntransitions into much denser environments with limited choice of large pores. In such invasive\r\ntransitions it is unclear if the cells can cross tight pores without the use of adhesions and\r\nextracellular proteolysis and whether they maintain the nucleus in the cell front.\r\nUsing various cell migration assays such as fibrous 3D collagen gels, geometrically defined\r\nmicrochannels with constrictions and simplistic under agarose migration assay, we provide\r\na comprehensive characterization of invasive migration of dendritic cells. We show that\r\nduring invasion the cells stall and stretch, reflecting the difficulty to translocate the bulky cell\r\nbody into the dense environment. In collagen gels, we show that dendritic cells can invade\r\nwithout proteolysis and adhesions. Instead, they utilize contractility, which can lead to largescale collagen compressions. During invasion, the nucleus stalls at tight constrictions, leading\r\nto a transient organelle reorientation. To resolve the stalling, upregulated rear contractility is\r\nrequired. This contractile force is simultaneously necessary for reverting the nucleus back to\r\nthe cell front after invasion and maintaining this positioning during permissive migration.\r\nA functional role of the reorientation was uncovered in the first collaboration project.\r\nA prominent central actin pool was identified around the MTOC, especially pronounced in\r\ndense and compressive environments. The actin pool was shown to generate pushing forces\r\nto dilate the space for cell translocation. These forces are only necessary in non-permissive\r\nenvironments, where the nucleus reorients to the cell rear, allowing the actin pool to\r\ngenerate space. In permissive environments where space generation is dispensable, the\r\nMTOC is located behind the nucleus and the actin cloud has reduced intensity, allowing more\r\nactin to be incorporated into the lamellipodium, speeding up migration.\r\nIn the second collaboration project, we investigated the effects of distinct chemical\r\nenvironments on dendritic cell migration. The strikingly persistent migration of these cells\r\nwas explained by their ability to modulate and even self-generate chemokine gradients. This\r\nallows the cells to migrate faster and more persistent in uniform chemokine fields compared\r\nto imposed chemokine gradients. The chemokine receptor CCR7 was identified as a crucial\r\nplayer in this process, both sensing the signal and internalizing the chemokine to create a sink." acknowledgement: "This project has received funding from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) via the doctorate\r\ncollege DK NanoCell and from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation\r\nprogramme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 665385.\r\n" alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Nikola full_name: Canigova, Nikola id: 3795523E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Canigova orcid: 0000-0002-8518-5926 citation: ama: Canigova N. Adaptive strategies of dendritic cell migration in response to environmental cues. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-19745 apa: Canigova, N. (2025). Adaptive strategies of dendritic cell migration in response to environmental cues. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19745 chicago: Canigova, Nikola. “Adaptive Strategies of Dendritic Cell Migration in Response to Environmental Cues.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19745. ieee: N. Canigova, “Adaptive strategies of dendritic cell migration in response to environmental cues,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Canigova N. 2025. Adaptive strategies of dendritic cell migration in response to environmental cues. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Canigova, Nikola. Adaptive Strategies of Dendritic Cell Migration in Response to Environmental Cues. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-19745. short: N. Canigova, Adaptive Strategies of Dendritic Cell Migration in Response to Environmental Cues, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-05-26T08:49:00Z date_published: 2025-05-27T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-06-18T17:34:48Z day: '27' ddc: - '570' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: MiSi - _id: GradSch doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-19745 ec_funded: 1 file: - access_level: closed checksum: 1a2d1525d19347fbb879ef57c02951bf content_type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document creator: cchlebak date_created: 2025-05-28T07:38:17Z date_updated: 2025-11-27T23:30:02Z embargo_to: open_access file_id: '19748' file_name: NikolaCanigova_Thesis_final.docx file_size: 103879193 relation: source_file - access_level: open_access checksum: c1d8f9a40a8e19fcf895373f4b773a46 content_type: application/pdf creator: cchlebak date_created: 2025-05-28T07:39:53Z date_updated: 2025-11-27T23:30:02Z embargo: 2025-11-27 file_id: '19749' file_name: NikolaCanigova_Thesis_final_PDFA2a_fixed.pdf file_size: 194530600 relation: main_file file_date_updated: 2025-11-27T23:30:02Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '05' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '133' project: - _id: 2564DBCA-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 call_identifier: H2020 grant_number: '665385' name: International IST Doctoral Program - _id: 265E2996-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425 call_identifier: FWF grant_number: W01250-B20 name: Nano-Analytics of Cellular Systems publication_identifier: isbn: - 978-3-99078-058-9 issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '14274' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Michael K full_name: Sixt, Michael K id: 41E9FBEA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Sixt orcid: 0000-0002-6620-9179 title: Adaptive strategies of dendritic cell migration in response to environmental cues type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_embargo: 6 months OA_place: publisher _id: '19456' abstract: - lang: eng text: "Making decisions requires flexibly adapting to changing environments, a process that\r\ndepends on accurately interpreting current contingencies and integrating them with\r\npast experience. Two brain regions are particularly critical for this process, the medial\r\nprefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the hippocampus. Using contextual information from the\r\nhippocampus, the mPFC selects relevant cognitive frameworks and suppresses\r\nirrelevant ones to guide appropriate actions. Several studies have shown that some\r\nmPFC pyramidal neurons become spatially tuned when spatial information is required\r\nto guide goal-directed behavior. However, the role of prefrontal spatial representations\r\nin learning and decision making is not well understood. This work aims to characterize\r\nthe role of mPFC spatial tuning in supporting a contextual association task. Rats were\r\ntrained to learn two cue–location associations on a radial arm maze over multiple days,\r\nwhile we simultaneously recorded from dorsal CA1 of the hippocampus and the\r\nprelimbic area of the mPFC. We describe a subset of spatially tuned hippocampal and\r\nprefrontal pyramidal neurons that “flicker” between multiple spatial representations on\r\ndifferent trials, suggesting dynamic, context-dependent coding. This flickering may\r\nprovide a substrate for how the network reorganizes in response to task demands,\r\nlikely by enabling the flexible evaluation of competing representations. " acknowledged_ssus: - _id: PreCl - _id: Bio - _id: LifeSc - _id: M-Shop alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Andrea D full_name: Cumpelik, Andrea D id: 3F158B32-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Cumpelik orcid: 0000-0003-1727-6612 citation: ama: Cumpelik AD. The role of prefrontal spatial coding in supporting a contextual association task. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-19456 apa: Cumpelik, A. D. (2025). The role of prefrontal spatial coding in supporting a contextual association task. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19456 chicago: Cumpelik, Andrea D. “The Role of Prefrontal Spatial Coding in Supporting a Contextual Association Task.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19456. ieee: A. D. Cumpelik, “The role of prefrontal spatial coding in supporting a contextual association task,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Cumpelik AD. 2025. The role of prefrontal spatial coding in supporting a contextual association task. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Cumpelik, Andrea D. The Role of Prefrontal Spatial Coding in Supporting a Contextual Association Task. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-19456. short: A.D. Cumpelik, The Role of Prefrontal Spatial Coding in Supporting a Contextual Association Task, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-03-25T11:22:38Z date_published: 2025-02-18T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-04-07T12:37:58Z day: '18' ddc: - '612' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: JoCs doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-19456 file: - access_level: open_access checksum: 1c7573303d8e5f6da3eb03d59055390f content_type: application/pdf creator: acumpeli date_created: 2025-03-25T11:07:55Z date_updated: 2025-09-30T22:30:02Z embargo: 2025-09-30 file_id: '19457' file_name: 2025_Thesis_Cumpelik_corrections_PDFA.pdf file_size: 11869040 relation: main_file - access_level: closed checksum: b93265ebd9a53f7a14100d0d48b4ff5b content_type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document creator: acumpeli date_created: 2025-03-25T11:08:05Z date_updated: 2025-09-30T22:30:02Z embargo_to: open_access file_id: '19458' file_name: 2025_Thesis_Cumpelik_corrections.docx file_size: 20436467 relation: source_file file_date_updated: 2025-09-30T22:30:02Z has_accepted_license: '1' keyword: - neuroscience - decision making - learning - cognitive flexibility - medial prefrontal cortex - hippocampus - electrophysiology language: - iso: eng month: '02' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '96' publication_identifier: isbn: - 978-3-99078-056-5 issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria status: public supervisor: - first_name: Jozsef L full_name: Csicsvari, Jozsef L id: 3FA14672-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Csicsvari orcid: 0000-0002-5193-4036 title: The role of prefrontal spatial coding in supporting a contextual association task type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '19533' abstract: - lang: eng text: "This thesis explores advancements in quantum remote sensing and non-equilibrium phase\r\ntransitions in the microwave regime, with a focus on dissipative phase transitions and quantumenhanced sensing.\r\nIn the first project, I experimentally studied photon blockade breakdown as a dissipative phase\r\ntransition in a zero-dimensional cavity-qubit system. By defining an appropriate thermodynamic\r\nlimit, we demonstrated that the observed bistability is a genuine signature of a first-order\r\nphase transition in this system. This work provides insight into non-equilibrium quantum\r\ndynamics and phase transitions in driven-dissipative open quantum systems.\r\nThe second project focuses on the experimental realization of a phase-conjugate receiver for\r\nquantum illumination (QI), a quantum sensing protocol that enhances target detection in noisy\r\nenvironments using entangled light. While an ideal spontaneous parametric down-conversion\r\n(SPDC) source and receiver could, in theory, provide up to a 6 dB advantage over classical\r\nillumination, no such ideal receiver exists. Instead, we explore an experimental realization of a\r\nphase-conjugate receiver for QI in the microwave regime at millikelvin temperatures using a\r\nJosephson parametric converter (JPC) as a source of continuous-variable Gaussian entangled\r\nsignal-idler pairs, where a maximum 3 dB advantage is theoretically achievable. We investigate\r\nkey experimental limitations that constrain practical QI performance, contributing to the\r\ndevelopment of quantum-enhanced sensing.\r\nAdditionally, this thesis presents efficient digital signal processing (DSP) techniques implemented in C++ and Python in collaboration with Przemysław Zieliński and Luka Drmić. These\r\nmethods, optimized using the Intel Integrated Performance Primitives (IPP) library, have been\r\nessential in data acquisition, noise filtering, and correlation analysis across multiple research\r\nprojects. Although not real-time, these DSP techniques significantly enhance the accuracy of\r\nquantum measurements.\r\nOverall, this thesis advances quantum-enhanced sensing by establishing the thermodynamic\r\nlimit in a single transmon-cavity system and experimentally exploring a phase-conjugate receiver\r\nfor QI. These findings contribute to quantum metrology, particularly for weak signal detection\r\nand remote sensing in noisy environments.\r\n" acknowledged_ssus: - _id: ScienComp - _id: M-Shop - _id: NanoFab - _id: LifeSc - _id: SSU acknowledgement: "I acknowledge the generous financial support of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) via BeyondC\r\n(F7105) and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (FETopen\r\nQUARTET, Grant Agreement No. 862644), which made this research possible. I also extend\r\nmy sincere appreciation to the MIBA workshop and the Institute of Science and Technology\r\nAustria nanofabrication facility for their technical assistance, which was instrumental in realizing\r\nthis work." alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Riya full_name: Sett, Riya id: 2E6D040E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Sett orcid: 0000-0001-7641-8348 citation: ama: Sett R. Quantum remote sensing and non-equilibrium phase transitions in the microwave regime. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-19533 apa: Sett, R. (2025). Quantum remote sensing and non-equilibrium phase transitions in the microwave regime. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19533 chicago: Sett, Riya. “ Quantum Remote Sensing and Non-Equilibrium Phase Transitions in the Microwave Regime.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19533. ieee: R. Sett, “ Quantum remote sensing and non-equilibrium phase transitions in the microwave regime,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Sett R. 2025. Quantum remote sensing and non-equilibrium phase transitions in the microwave regime. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Sett, Riya. Quantum Remote Sensing and Non-Equilibrium Phase Transitions in the Microwave Regime. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-19533. short: R. Sett, Quantum Remote Sensing and Non-Equilibrium Phase Transitions in the Microwave Regime, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-04-09T16:44:26Z date_published: 2025-04-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-06-03T07:16:05Z day: '1' ddc: - '530' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: JoFi doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-19533 ec_funded: 1 file: - access_level: open_access checksum: ba6cd2289d0141a160a14fc97df1632f content_type: application/pdf creator: rsett date_created: 2025-04-10T11:33:22Z date_updated: 2025-10-11T22:30:02Z embargo: 2025-10-11 file_id: '19538' file_name: PhD_Thesis_Riya_Sett_pdfa.pdf file_size: 4129208 relation: main_file - access_level: closed checksum: ee63a94cb8f7adf5e766903028b81ed6 content_type: application/x-zip-compressed creator: rsett date_created: 2025-04-10T11:34:08Z date_updated: 2025-10-11T22:30:02Z embargo_to: open_access file_id: '19539' file_name: PhD Thesis Riya Sett.zip file_size: 6646110 relation: source_file file_date_updated: 2025-10-11T22:30:02Z has_accepted_license: '1' keyword: - phase transition - open quantum system - phase diagram - cavity quantum electrodynamics - superconducting qubits - semiclassical physics - quantum optics - josephson junction - parametric converter - phase conjugation - quantum radar - quantum entanglement - correlation - quantum sensing language: - iso: eng month: '04' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '109' project: - _id: 237CBA6C-32DE-11EA-91FC-C7463DDC885E call_identifier: H2020 grant_number: '862644' name: Quantum readout techniques and technologies - _id: bdb108fd-d553-11ed-ba76-83dc74a9864f grant_number: F07105 name: QUANTUM INFORMATION SYSTEMS BEYOND CLASSICAL CAPABILITIES / P5- Integration of Superconducting Quantum Circuits publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '18978' relation: research_data status: public - id: '19280' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '17183' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '13117' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Johannes M full_name: Fink, Johannes M id: 4B591CBA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Fink orcid: 0000-0001-8112-028X title: ' Quantum remote sensing and non-equilibrium phase transitions in the microwave regime' tmp: image: /images/cc_by.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0) short: CC BY (4.0) type: dissertation user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 year: '2025' ... --- OA_embargo: '12' OA_place: publisher _id: '19722' abstract: - lang: eng text: "As root epidermal cells progress from a phase of elongation to differentiation, their\r\ncortical microtubule (MT) arrays exhibit a transversal-to-longitudinal reorientation. The\r\nhormone cytokinin, a key regulator of root development, facilitates these cytoskeletal\r\nchanges. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying hormone-mediated MT\r\nreorientation during root development are still unknown. Here, we find that MT reorientation\r\nin root cells differs from the existing model in hypocotyl cells, as it does not rely on MT plusend rescue. We show that cytokinin facilitates MT array reorganization during cell\r\ndifferentiation by promoting katanin’s (KTN1) severing activity, and by modulating KTN1’s\r\nassociation with microtubules. Cytokinin regulates SPIRAL2 (SPR2) in a phosphorylationdependent manner, directing its localization to, and stabilization of, the new MT minus-end\r\ncreated by katanin-mediated severing at crossovers. Notably, our findings suggest that\r\ndynamic and reversible phosphorylation at S579 of SPR2 is crucial for the proper functioning\r\nof the MT severing machinery. Finally, we identify MAP65-1 and CLASP as additional targets\r\nof cytokinin-dependent phosphoregulation. Cytokinin treatment decreases MT-MAP65-1\r\nassociation in elongating cells, likely to expose MTs to KTN1-mediated severing, whereas it\r\nincreases MT-CLASP association to stabilize the growing plus-end. In this way, cytokinin drives\r\nMT reorganization during cell development by simultaneously modulating several\r\nmicrotubule-associated proteins. These results reveal key molecular players in hormonemediated cytoskeletal regulation, and highlight protein phosphorylation as a powerful tool\r\nduring this process." acknowledged_ssus: - _id: Bio - _id: LifeSc acknowledgement: Special thanks to the Plant Facility. alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Syamala full_name: Inumella, Syamala id: F8660870-D756-11E9-98C5-34DFE5697425 last_name: Inumella orcid: 0009-0002-5890-120X citation: ama: Inumella S. Molecular mechanisms of microtubule reorganization in elongating root epidermal cells. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-19722 apa: Inumella, S. (2025). Molecular mechanisms of microtubule reorganization in elongating root epidermal cells. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19722 chicago: Inumella, Syamala. “Molecular Mechanisms of Microtubule Reorganization in Elongating Root Epidermal Cells.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19722. ieee: S. Inumella, “Molecular mechanisms of microtubule reorganization in elongating root epidermal cells,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Inumella S. 2025. Molecular mechanisms of microtubule reorganization in elongating root epidermal cells. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Inumella, Syamala. Molecular Mechanisms of Microtubule Reorganization in Elongating Root Epidermal Cells. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-19722. short: S. Inumella, Molecular Mechanisms of Microtubule Reorganization in Elongating Root Epidermal Cells, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-05-23T15:21:29Z date_published: 2025-05-23T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-06-12T08:34:29Z day: '23' ddc: - '580' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: GradSch - _id: EvBe doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-19722 file: - access_level: open_access checksum: 847ec70b2e40f50e0ddc7b8da201d52c content_type: application/pdf creator: sinumell date_created: 2025-05-28T11:59:11Z date_updated: 2026-05-23T22:30:02Z embargo: 2026-05-23 file_id: '19757' file_name: Final Thesis_Syamala Inumella.pdf file_size: 8292363 relation: main_file - access_level: closed checksum: 17cdffdae13a5f65bdad9c84e9e0e3bd content_type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document creator: sinumell date_created: 2025-05-28T11:59:11Z date_updated: 2026-05-23T22:30:02Z embargo_to: open_access file_id: '19758' file_name: Final Thesis_Syamala Inumella.docx file_size: 7145703 relation: source_file file_date_updated: 2026-05-23T22:30:02Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '05' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '113' publication_identifier: isbn: - 978-3-99078-059-6 issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria status: public supervisor: - first_name: Eva full_name: Benková, Eva id: 38F4F166-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Benková orcid: 0000-0002-8510-9739 title: Molecular mechanisms of microtubule reorganization in elongating root epidermal cells type: dissertation user_id: 8b945eb4-e2f2-11eb-945a-df72226e66a9 year: '2025' ... --- OA_place: publisher _id: '19763' abstract: - lang: eng text: "Pattern formation in developing organs is controlled by morphogens. These signalling\r\nmolecules form concentration gradients across tissues, thereby providing positional\r\ninformation that instructs the pattern of cell differentiation. Morphogen gradients are highly\r\ndynamic in space and time. Many factors such as morphogen production, spreading,\r\ndegradation, cellular rearrangements and others could contribute to changes in the gradient\r\nshape, yet how the spatiotemporal signalling dynamics arise in many systems is still unclear.\r\nWe studied the dynamics of morphogen signalling and tissue patterning in the developing\r\nvertebrate neural tube. In this system, neural crest, roof plate and distinct dorsal progenitor\r\nsubtypes are specified in a spatially and temporally ordered manner in response to dorsal-toventral gradients of BMP and WNT signalling activity. How the BMP and WNT gradients are\r\nestablished and interpreted to ensure ordered cell specification is poorly understood.\r\nTo address this question, we developed a 2D embryonic stem cell differentiation system that\r\ncaptures key features of dorsal neural tube development. In this system, differentiated\r\ncolonies display remarkable self-organised pattern formation in response to uniformly\r\napplied BMP ligand. We established a method of differentiating the colonies using\r\nmicrofabricated stencils, which allowed us to control the initial size and shape of colonies\r\nwithout confining cell migration and colony growth. This led to highly reproducible pattern\r\nformation that facilitates quantification.\r\nUsing this approach, we observed striking two-phase temporal dynamics of BMP signalling in\r\nour colonies: a BMP gradient rapidly forms from the periphery to the centre of colonies,\r\nsubsequently disappears and is re-established again in the second phase. By combining our\r\nquantitative data with a data-driven theoretical model, we uncovered a temporal relay\r\nmechanism that underlies this biphasic BMP signalling dynamics. The first signalling phase is\r\ncontrolled by fast tissue-autonomous negative feedback that restricts the duration of the\r\ninitial response to BMP. The early BMP activity gradient moreover controls the spatial\r\norganisation of the cell type pattern: the absence of a first phase results in disordered cell\r\ntype pattern. The second phase is controlled by slow positive regulation of BMP signalling by\r\nthe transcription factor LMX1A, a key regulator of roof plate identity. WNT promotes the\r\nsecond phase of BMP signalling via positive feedback on LMX1A.\r\nAltogether, the mechanism that we uncovered ensures the coupling of sequential\r\ndevelopmental events, making pattern formation spatially and temporally organised.\r\nFurthermore, this mechanism allows the BMP signalling pathway to be reused in different\r\ncontexts – first for the establishment of the neural plate border, and subsequently for dorsal\r\nneural progenitor patterning. Our study supports a general developmental principle in which\r\nmultiple morphogens interact with transcriptional networks resulting in complex\r\nspatiotemporal signalling dynamics that ultimately drive organised pattern formation." acknowledged_ssus: - _id: Bio - _id: PreCl - _id: LifeSc acknowledgement: "My work would also not have been possible without the Imaging and Optics, the Life Science\r\nand the Preclinical Facility of ISTA. Your support has facilitated my research substantially. I\r\nalso want to thank the Graduate School Office for their never-ending support and their sincere\r\neffort to improve the PhD programme of the ISTA even further.\r\nThis work was supported by the Gesellschaft für Forschungsförderung Niederösterreich\r\nm.b.H. fellowship (SC19-011). Thank you for recognizing the importance of this project." alternative_title: - ISTA Thesis article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: Stefanie full_name: Rus, Stefanie id: 4D9EC9B6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Rus orcid: 0000-0001-8703-1093 citation: ama: Rus S. Dynamics of morphogen signalling and cell fate decisions in the dorsal neural tube. 2025. doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-19763 apa: Rus, S. (2025). Dynamics of morphogen signalling and cell fate decisions in the dorsal neural tube. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19763 chicago: Rus, Stefanie. “Dynamics of Morphogen Signalling and Cell Fate Decisions in the Dorsal Neural Tube.” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. https://doi.org/10.15479/AT-ISTA-19763. ieee: S. Rus, “Dynamics of morphogen signalling and cell fate decisions in the dorsal neural tube,” Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. ista: Rus S. 2025. Dynamics of morphogen signalling and cell fate decisions in the dorsal neural tube. Institute of Science and Technology Austria. mla: Rus, Stefanie. Dynamics of Morphogen Signalling and Cell Fate Decisions in the Dorsal Neural Tube. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025, doi:10.15479/AT-ISTA-19763. short: S. Rus, Dynamics of Morphogen Signalling and Cell Fate Decisions in the Dorsal Neural Tube, Institute of Science and Technology Austria, 2025. corr_author: '1' date_created: 2025-05-30T09:14:58Z date_published: 2025-05-29T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2026-04-14T09:50:53Z day: '29' ddc: - '570' degree_awarded: PhD department: - _id: AnKi - _id: GradSch doi: 10.15479/AT-ISTA-19763 file: - access_level: open_access checksum: 8cd7fe3ca990adbcafdece119aa0973d content_type: application/pdf creator: cchlebak date_created: 2025-05-30T09:10:22Z date_updated: 2025-11-30T23:30:02Z embargo: 2025-11-30 file_id: '19764' file_name: Thesis_Lehr_PDFA.pdf file_size: 42879974 relation: main_file - access_level: closed checksum: 0c87dd5fc803450a47b20736b5f86a2f content_type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document creator: cchlebak date_created: 2025-05-30T09:31:15Z date_updated: 2025-11-30T23:30:02Z embargo_to: open_access file_id: '19765' file_name: Thesis_Lehr_emptyPages.docx file_size: 18731094 relation: source_file file_date_updated: 2025-11-30T23:30:02Z has_accepted_license: '1' language: - iso: eng month: '05' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: '129' project: - _id: 9B9B39FA-BA93-11EA-9121-9846C619BF3A grant_number: SC19-011 name: The regulatory logic of pattern formation in the vertebrate dorsal neural tube publication_identifier: issn: - 2663-337X publication_status: published publisher: Institute of Science and Technology Austria related_material: record: - id: '18601' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '17148' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '18807' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public - id: '13136' relation: part_of_dissertation status: public status: public supervisor: - first_name: Anna full_name: Kicheva, Anna id: 3959A2A0-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Kicheva orcid: 0000-0003-4509-4998 title: Dynamics of morphogen signalling and cell fate decisions in the dorsal neural tube tmp: image: /images/cc_by_nc_nd.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) short: CC BY-NC-ND (4.0) type: dissertation user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd year: '2025' ...