@article{21707, abstract = {Structural and functional differences between brain hemispheres are a common feature of animal nervous systems with reduced bilateral asymmetry often linked to impaired cognitive performance. How neuronal left-right asymmetry is initiated and integrated into a bilaterally symmetrical ground pattern is poorly understood. Here, we show that the directional asymmetry of a Drosophila central brain circuit originates from axonal interactions of two types of bilateral pioneer neurons. Subsequent recruitment of neighboring neurons into the asymmetric neuropil primordium results in hemisphere-specific microcircuits. Circuit lateralization requires dynamic expression of the cell adhesion molecule Fasciclin 2 to maintain structural plasticity in axonal remodeling. Reduced circuit asymmetry following cell type–specific Fasciclin 2 manipulation affects adult brain function. These results reveal an unexpected degree of developmental plasticity of late-born Drosophila neurons in the formation of a circuit node via the lateralized recruitment of symmetric circuit components.}, author = {Markovitsch, Johann W. and Mitić, Daniel and Del Pilar Jiménez García, Alisa and Zane, Alsberga and Kainz, Sarah and Kaur, Rashmit and Hummel, Thomas}, issn = {2375-2548}, journal = {Science Advances}, number = {13}, publisher = {American Association for the Advancement of Science}, title = {{Sequential formation of Drosophila circuit asymmetry via prolonged structural plasticity}}, doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aea6020}, volume = {12}, year = {2026}, } @article{21708, abstract = {On October 4, 2023, a proglacial lake named the South Lhonak lake was the source of a catastrophic Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) in the Teesta river basin area, resulting in 24 fatalities and leaving over 70 persons missing. The GLOF also destroyed 13 bridges and a major hydropower plant in the Chungthang region. Over 60,000 individuals in four districts of Sikkim were impacted by this GLOF event. This study examines the factors that led to the GLOF event. Our study shows that the cause of this GLOF was initiated by a landslide, that dumped a substantial amount (~ 38.31 million m3) of debris into the South Lhonak Lake. Furthermore, the glacier that was connected to the lake, lost a big chunk of ice mass (~ 7 million m3) due to calving. The combination of these two processes led to the collapse of the left lateral moraine that consequently generated flood waves which breached the terminal moraine dam of the lake. We recommend monitoring land subsidence and calving events for large proglacial lakes to prevent the disastrous consequences of such GLOFs in the future.}, author = {Mohanty, Litan Kumar and Gantayat, Prateek and Dixit, Ankur and Das Adhikari, Manik and Biswas, Rahul and Singh, Vivek Kumar}, issn = {2045-2322}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Sequence of events that led to the South Lhonak lake outburst flood in Sikkim, India}}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-35895-7}, volume = {16}, year = {2026}, } @article{21709, abstract = {JWST’s “little red dots” (LRDs) are increasingly interpreted as active galactic nuclei (AGN) obscured by dense thermalized gas rather than dust as evidenced by their X-ray weakness, blackbody-like continua, and Balmer line profiles. Key questions are how LRDs connect to standard UV-luminous AGN, whether transitional phases exist, and whether they are observable. We present the “X-ray dot” (XRD), a compact source at z = 3.28 observed by the NIRSpec Wide Guaranteed Time Observation survey. The XRD exhibits LRD hallmarks: a blackbody-like (Teff ≃ 6400 K) red continuum, a faint but blue rest-UV excess, falling mid-IR emission, and broad Balmer lines (FWHM ∼ 2700–3200 km s−1). Unlike LRDs, however, it is remarkably X-ray luminous (L2−10 keV = 1044.18 erg s−1) and has a continuum inflection that is blueward of the Balmer limit. We find that the red rest-optical and blue mid-IR continuum cannot be reproduced by standard dust-attenuated AGN models without invoking extremely steep extinction curves, nor can the weak mid-IR emission be reconciled with well-established X-ray–torus scaling relations. We therefore consider an alternative scenario: the XRD may be an LRD in transition, where the gas envelope dominates the optical continuum but optically thin sight lines allow X-rays to escape. The XRD may thus provide a physical link between LRDs and standard AGN, offering direct evidence that LRDs are powered by supermassive black holes and providing insight into their accretion properties.}, author = {Hviding, Raphael E. and De Graaff, Anna and Liu, Hanpu and Goulding, Andy D. and Ma, Yilun and Greene, Jenny E. and Boogaard, Leindert A. and Bunker, Andrew J. and Cleri, Nikko J. and Franx, Marijn and Hirschmann, Michaela and Leja, Joel and Matthee, Jorryt J and Naidu, Rohan P. and Setton, David J. and Übler, Hannah and Venturi, Giacomo and Wang, Bingjie}, issn = {2041-8213}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal Letters}, number = {1}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{The X-ray dot: Exotic dust or a late-stage Little Red Dot?}}, doi = {10.3847/2041-8213/ae4c88}, volume = {1000}, year = {2026}, } @article{21710, abstract = {Early results from JWST suggest that Epoch of Reionization (EoR) galaxies produce copious ionizing photons, which, if they escape efficiently, could cause reionization to occur too early. We study this problem using JWST imaging and prism spectroscopy for 412 galaxies at 4.5 < z < 9.0. We fit these data simultaneously with stellar population and nebular emission models that include a parameter for the fraction of ionizing photons that escape the galaxy, fesc. We find that the ionization production efficiency, ξion = Q(H0)/LUV, increases with redshift and decreasing UV luminosity, but shows significant scatter, (log ion z, MUV) 0.3 dex. The inferred escape fractions averaged over the population are low, ranging from〈fesc〉 ≃ 2.6% ± 1.4% at 6 < z < 9 to 6.5% ± 2.2% at 4.5 < z < 6, with weak or no indication of evolution with redshift. This implies that in our models most of the ionizing photons need to be absorbed to account for the nebular emission. We compute the impact of our results on reionization, including the distributions for ξion and fesc, and the evolution and uncertainty of the UV luminosity function. Considering galaxies brighter than MUV < −16 mag would produce an intergalactic medium hydrogen-ionized fraction of xe = 0.5 at 5.3 < z < 5.8, possibly too late compared to constraints from from quasistellar object (QSO) sight lines. Including fainter galaxies, MUV < −14 mag, we obtain xe = 0.5 at 6.0 < z < 8.1, fully consistent with QSO and cosmic microwave background data. This implies that EoR galaxies produce plenty of ionizing photons, but that these do not efficiently escape. This may be a result of high gas column densities combined with burstier star formation histories, which limit the time massive stars are able to clear channels through the gas for ionizing photons to escape.}, author = {Papovich, Casey and Cole, Justin W. and Hu, Weida and Finkelstein, Steven L. and Shen, Lu and Arrabal Haro, Pablo and Amorín, Ricardo O. and Backhaus, Bren E. and Bagley, Micaela B. and Bhatawdekar, Rachana and Calabrò, Antonello and Carnall, Adam C. and Cleri, Nikko J. and Daddi, Emanuele and Dickinson, Mark and Grogin, Norman A. and Holwerda, Benne W. and Jaskot, Anne E. and Koekemoer, Anton M. and Llerena, Mario and Lucas, Ray A. and Mascia, Sara and Pacucci, Fabio and Pentericci, Laura and Pérez-González, Pablo G. and Pirzkal, Nor and Raghunathan, Srinivasan and Seillé, Lise Marie and Somerville, Rachel S. and Yung, L. Y.Aaron}, issn = {1538-4357}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal}, number = {1}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{Galaxies in the epoch of reionization are all bark and no bite-plenty of ionizing photons, low escape fractions}}, doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae3b25}, volume = {1000}, year = {2026}, } @article{21711, abstract = {Background: Low-volume trapping columns are essential for sample enrichment, desalting, and injection profile focusing on nano-LC–MS-based proteomics. They enable higher sample loading, improve chromatographic performance, and protect the analytical column by removing salts and contaminants. Recently, monolithic trap columns with micropillar architecture have emerged as alternatives to conventionally packed traps. This study compares the performance of a packed and a micropillar monolithic trap column for the analysis of tryptic peptides. Methods: A tryptic digest of HeLa cell lysate was analyzed under identical LC–MS conditions using both trap types. Peptides were detected at 214 nm and analyzed by nano-ESI on a Q Exactive Plus Orbitrap. Data were searched against the human UniProt database (February 2023) using FragPipe v20.0, and statistical evaluation of MaxLFQ intensities was performed in Perseus using Welch’s t-test and clustering analysis. Results: Over 2500 proteins were identified with both setups. The packed trap column yielded more total peptides, particularly those with post-translational modifications and higher hydrophilicity, whereas the monolithic column favored peptides of intermediate hydrophobicity. Chromatographic profiles confirmed a slight reduction in the trapping efficiency of hydrophilic peptides by the monolithic trap. Conclusions: Trap column design significantly influences peptide recovery and proteome coverage.}, author = {Miletić Vukajlović, Jadranka and Ilić, Bojana and Bruszel, Bella and Panić-Janković, Tanja and Mitulović, Goran}, issn = {2227-7382}, journal = {Proteomes}, number = {1}, publisher = {MDPI}, title = {{Comparison of the trapping efficiency for tryptic peptides on particle-packed and micro-pillar trap columns for proteomics analyses}}, doi = {10.3390/proteomes14010010}, volume = {14}, year = {2026}, } @article{21712, abstract = {Supermassive black hole binary (SMBHB) systems are expected to form as a consequence of galaxy mergers. At subparsec separations, SMBHBs can be identified as quasars with periodic variability, with previous periodicity searches uncovering significant candidates. However, these searches focused primarily on sinusoidal signals, while theoretical models and hydrodynamical simulations predict that binaries produce more complex non-sinusoidal pulse shapes. Here we examine the efficacy of the Lomb–Scargle periodogram (LSP; one of the most popular tools for periodicity searches in unevenly sampled lightcurves) to detect periodicities with a sawtooth shape mimicking results of hydrodynamical simulations. We simulate idealized well-sampled lightcurves, lightcurves that mimic the data in the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) analyzed in M. Charisi et al. (2016), and lightcurves that resemble our expectations for single-band data in the upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) of the Rubin Observatory. We approximate quasar variability with a damped random walk (DRW) model, inject sinusoidal and sawtooth pulse shapes, and assess their statistical significance. We find that in the presence of red noise, the LSP detects a relatively low fraction of the sinusoidal signals (∼45%, ∼24%, and ∼23%, in the PTF-like, idealized, and LSST-like lightcurves, respectively). The fraction is significantly reduced for sawtooth periodicity (with only ∼9% in PTF-like and ∼1% in idealized and LSST-like lightcurves). These low recovery rates imply that previous searches have missed the large majority of binaries. They also have significant implications for the detection of SMBHBs in upcoming LSST necessitating the development of advanced tools that go beyond the simple LSP.}, author = {Lin, Allison and Charisi, Maria and Haiman, Zoltán}, issn = {1538-4357}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal}, number = {2}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{Lomb-scargle periodogram struggles with non-sinusoidal supermassive Black Hole binary signatures in quasar lightcurves}}, doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae29a7}, volume = {997}, year = {2026}, } @article{21713, abstract = {GW231123 represents the most massive binary–black hole merger detected to date, lying firmly within, or even above, the pair-instability mass gap. The component spins are both exceptionally high (a1 = 0.90 +0.10/-0.19, a2 = 0.80 +0.20/-0.51), which is difficult to explain with repeated mergers. Here we show that the black hole spin vectors are closely aligned with each other while significantly tilted relative to the binary’s orbital angular momentum, pointing to a common accretion-driven origin. We examine astrophysical formation channels capable of producing near-equal, high-mass, and mutually aligned spins consistent with GW231123—particularly binaries embedded in AGN disks and Population III remnants, which grew via coherent misaligned gas accretion. We further argue that other high-mass, high-spin events, e.g., GW190521, may share a similar evolutionary pathway. These findings underscore the critical role of sustained, coherent accretion in shaping the most extreme black hole binaries.}, author = {Bartos, Imre and Haiman, Zoltán}, issn = {2041-8213}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal Letters}, number = {2}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{Accretion is all you need: Black Hole spin alignment in merger GW231123 indicates accretion pathway}}, doi = {10.3847/2041-8213/ae2bff}, volume = {996}, year = {2026}, } @article{21714, abstract = {Be stars are rapidly rotating main-sequence stars that play a crucial role in understanding stellar evolution and binary interactions. In this Letter, we propose a new formation scenario for black hole (BH) + Be star binaries (hereafter BHBe binaries), where the Be star is produced through the wind Roche lobe overflow (WRLOF) mechanism. Our analysis is based on numerical simulations of the WRLOF process in massive binaries, building on recent theoretical work. We demonstrate that the WRLOF model can efficiently form BHBe binaries under reasonable assumptions on stellar wind velocities. Using rapid binary population synthesis, we estimate the population of such systems in the Milky Way, predicting ∼1800−3200 currently existing BHBe binaries originating from the WRLOF channel. These systems are characterized by high eccentricities and exceptionally wide orbits, with typical orbital periods exceeding 1000 days and a peak distribution around ∼10,000 days. Due to their long orbital separations, these BHBe binaries are promising targets for future detection via astrometric and interferometric observations.}, author = {Li, Zhenwei and Jia, Shi and Wei, Dandan and Ge, Hongwei and Chen, Hailiang and Zhang, Yangyang and Chen, Xuefei and Han, Zhanwen}, issn = {2041-8213}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal Letters}, number = {2}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{Formation of Be stars via wind accretion: Case study on Black Hole + Be star binaries}}, doi = {10.3847/2041-8213/ae3008}, volume = {996}, year = {2026}, } @article{21715, abstract = {New populations of red active galactic nuclei (known as “little red dots”) discovered by JWST exhibit remarkable spectral energy distributions. Leveraging X-ray through far-infrared observations of two of the most luminous known little red dots, we directly measure their bolometric luminosities. We find evidence that more than half of the bolometric luminosity likely emerges in the rest-frame optical, with Lbol/L5100 = 5, roughly half the value for “standard” active galactic nuclei. Meanwhile, the X-ray emitting corona, UV-emitting blackbody, and reprocessed mid to far-infrared emission are all considerably subdominant, assuming that the far-infrared luminosity is well below current measured limits. We present new bolometric corrections that dramatically lower inferred bolometric luminosities by a factor of 10 compared to published values in the literature. These bolometric corrections are in accord with expectations from models in which gas absorption and reprocessing are responsible for the red rest-frame optical colors of little red dots. We discuss how this lowered luminosity scale suggests a lower mass scale for the population by at least an order of magnitude (e.g., ∼105–107 M⊙ black holes, and ∼108 M⊙ galaxies), alleviating tensions with clustering, overmassive black holes, and the integrated black hole mass density in the Universe.}, author = {Greene, Jenny E. and Setton, David J. and Furtak, Lukas J. and Naidu, Rohan P. and Volonteri, Marta and Dayal, Pratika and Labbe, Ivo and Van Dokkum, Pieter and Bezanson, Rachel and Brammer, Gabriel and Cutler, Sam E. and Glazebrook, Karl and De Graaff, Anna and Hirschmann, Michaela and Hviding, Raphael E. and Kokorev, Vasily and Leja, Joel and Liu, Hanpu and Ma, Yilun and Matthee, Jorryt J and Nanayakkara, Themiya and Oesch, Pascal A. and Pan, Richard and Price, Sedona H. and Spilker, Justin S. and Wang, Bingjie and Weaver, John R. and Whitaker, Katherine E. and Williams, Christina C. and Zitrin, Adi}, issn = {1538-4357}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal}, number = {2}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{What you see is what you get: Empirically measured bolometric luminosities of Little Red Dots}}, doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae1836}, volume = {996}, year = {2026}, } @article{21716, abstract = {Male germline development in plants is highly sensitive to heat stress, with elevated temperatures frequently impairing male fertility and consequently reducing seed production. Indeed, recent global warming has decreased major crop yields, emphasizing the urgent need to elucidate the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying heat-induced male sterility. This review synthesizes current knowledge on how heat stress disrupts microsporogenesis and microgametogenesis, and how plants counteract these stresses through diverse thermotolerance mechanisms. We emphasize temperature-sensitive processes, including meiotic progression in male germ cells, programmed cell death of somatic tapetal nurse cells, and post-meiotic pollen tube development. We further discuss how epigenetic regulators enhance thermotolerance by reprogramming DNA methylation landscapes and modulating histone variant distribution. Finally, we propose future directions aimed at understanding the mechanisms of reproductive thermotolerance from the epigenetic perspective.}, author = {Nagai, Hiroki and Feng, Xiaoqi}, issn = {1879-0356}, journal = {Current Opinion in Plant Biology}, number = {6}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying male reproductive thermotolerance}}, doi = {10.1016/j.pbi.2026.102881}, volume = {91}, year = {2026}, } @inproceedings{21717, abstract = {Robust Markov Decision Processes (RMDPs) generalize classical MDPs that consider uncertainties in transition probabilities by defining a set of possible transition functions. An objective is a set of runs (or infinite trajectories) of the RMDP, and the value for an objective is the maximal probability that the agent can guarantee against the adversarial environment. We consider (a) reachability objectives, where given a target set of states, the goal is to eventually arrive at one of them; and (b) parity objectives, which are a canonical representation for ω-regular objectives. The qualitative analysis problem asks whether the objective can be ensured with probability 1. In this work, we study the qualitative problem for reachability and parity objectives on RMDPs without making any assumption over the structures of the RMDPs, e.g., unichain or aperiodic. Our contributions are twofold. We first present efficient algorithms with oracle access to uncertainty sets that solve qualitative problems of reachability and parity objectives. We then report experimental results demonstrating the effectiveness of our oracle-based approach on classical RMDP examples from the literature scaling up to thousands of states.}, author = {Asadi, Ali and Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Kafshdar Goharshadi, Ehsan and Karrabi, Mehrdad and Shafiee, Ali}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 40th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence}, issn = {2374-3468}, location = {Singapore, Singapore}, number = {43}, pages = {36137--36145}, publisher = {Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence}, title = {{Qualitative analysis of ω-regular objectives on robust MDPs}}, doi = {10.1609/aaai.v40i43.40931}, volume = {40}, year = {2026}, } @article{21718, abstract = {In this paper, we consider the big algebra recently introduced by Hausel for the GLn-action on the coordinate ring of the matrix space Mat(n,r). In particular, we obtain explicit formulas for the big algebra generators in terms of differential operators with polynomial coefficients. We show that big algebras in type A are commutative and relate them to the Bethe subalgebra in the Yangian Y(gln). We apply these results to big algebras of symmetric powers of the standard representation of GLn. .}, author = {Ngo, Nhok T}, issn = {1815-0659}, journal = {Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications}, publisher = {National Academy of Science of Ukraine}, title = {{Big algebra in type A for the coordinate ring of the matrix space}}, doi = {10.3842/SIGMA.2026.024}, volume = {22}, year = {2026}, } @inproceedings{21719, abstract = {We develop a new algorithmic framework for designing approximation algorithms for cut-based optimization problems on capacitated undirected graphs that undergo edge insertions and deletions. Specifically, our framework dynamically maintains a variant of the hierarchical 𝑗-tree decomposition of [Madry FOCS’10], achieving a poly-logarithmic approximation factor to the graph’s cut structure and supporting edge updates in 𝑂⁡(𝑛𝜀) amortized update time, for any arbitrarily small constant 𝜀 ∈(0,1). Consequently, we obtain new trade-offs between approximation and update/query time for fundamental cut-based optimization problems in the fully dynamic setting, including all-pairs minimum cuts, sparsest cut, multi-way cut, and multi-cut. For the last three problems, these trade-offs give the first fully-dynamic algorithms achieving poly-logarithmic approximation in sub-linear time per operation. The main technical ingredient behind our dynamic hierarchy is a dynamic cut-sparsifier algorithm that can handle vertex splits with low recourse. This is achieved by white-boxing the dynamic cut sparsifier construction of [Abraham et al. FOCS’16], based on forest packing, together with new structural insights about the maintenance of these forests under vertex splits. Given the versatility of cut sparsification in both the static and dynamic graph algorithms literature, we believe this construction may be of independent interest.}, author = {Goranci, Gramoz and Henzinger, Monika H and Kiss, Peter and Momeni, Ali and Zöcklein, Gernot}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2026 Annual ACM SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms}, isbn = {9781611978971}, issn = {15579468}, pages = {1128--1180}, publisher = {Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics}, title = {{Dynamic hierarchical j-tree decomposition and its applications}}, doi = {10.1137/1.9781611978971.45}, volume = {2026-January}, year = {2026}, } @inproceedings{21720, abstract = {We present an exact fully-dynamic minimum cut algorithm that runs in 𝑛𝑜⁡(1) deterministic update time when the minimum cut size is at most 2Θ⁡(log3/4−𝑐⁡𝑛) for any 𝑐 >0, improving on the previous algorithm of Jin, Sun, and Thorup (SODA 2024) whose minimum cut size limit is (log⁡𝑛)𝑜⁡(1). Combined with graph sparsification, we obtain the first (1 +𝜖)-approximate fully-dynamic minimum cut algorithm on weighted graphs, for any 𝜖 ≥2−Θ⁡(log3/4−𝑐⁡𝑛), in 𝑛𝑜⁡(1) randomized update time. Our main technical contribution is a deterministic local minimum cut algorithm, which replaces the randomized LocalKCut procedure from El-Hayek, Henzinger, and Li (SODA 2025).}, author = {El-Hayek, Antoine and Henzinger, Monika H and Li, Jason}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the Annual ACM SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms}, issn = {1557-9468}, location = {Vancouver, Canada}, pages = {613--663}, publisher = {Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics}, title = {{Deterministic and exact fully-dynamic minimum cut of superpolylogarithmic size in subpolynomial time}}, doi = {10.1137/1.9781611978971.25}, volume = {2026}, year = {2026}, } @article{21721, abstract = {Swimming bacteria move through a fluid by actuating their moving body parts. They are force-free and can be described as hydrodynamic force dipoles: pushers or pullers. This modelling description is broadly used in biological physics and active matter research, and it has successfully predicted, for example, the superfluid behaviour of suspensions of pushers or the bend instability and emergence of turbulent flows in active nematics. However, this description accounts only for the translational motion of the swimming body and neglects the effects of hydrodynamic torque dipoles, which are relevant to bacteria with rotary motor-driven flagella, such as swimming Escherichia coli. Here we show that the torque dipole of confined swimming E. coli can power the persistent rotation of symmetric discs. The torque dipole leads to a traction force on the discs, an additive mechanism that is both contactless and independent of the orientation of the bacteria. Our results indicate that the torque dipole of swimming E. coli is notable in confined geometries, which is relevant to bacterial transport through porous materials, biofilms and the development of chiral fluids.}, author = {Grober, Daniel B and Dhar, Tanumoy and Saintillan, David and Palacci, Jérémie A}, issn = {1745-2481}, journal = {Nature Physics}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{The hydrodynamic torque dipole from rotary bacterial flagella powers symmetric discs}}, doi = {10.1038/s41567-026-03189-4}, year = {2026}, } @inproceedings{21722, abstract = {Partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) are a central model for uncertainty in sequential decision making. The most basic objective is the reachability objective, where a target set must be eventually visited, and the more general parity objectives can model all omega-regular specifications. For such objectives, the computational analysis problems are the following: (a) qualitative analysis that asks whether the objective can be satisfied with probability 1 (almost-sure winning) or probability arbitrarily close to 1 (limit-sure winning); and (b) quantitative analysis that asks for the approximation of the optimal probability of satisfying the objective. For general POMDPs, almost-sure analysis for reachability objectives is EXPTIME-complete, but limit-sure and quantitative analyses for reachability objectives are undecidable; almost-sure, limit-sure, and quantitative analyses for parity objectives are all undecidable. A special class of POMDPs, called revealing POMDPs, has been studied recently in several works, and for this subclass the almost-sure analysis for parity objectives was shown to be EXPTIME-complete. In this work, we show that for revealing POMDPs the limit-sure analysis for parity objectives is EXPTIME-complete, and even the quantitative analysis for parity objectives can be achieved in EXPTIME.}, author = {Asadi, Ali and Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Lurie, David and Saona Urmeneta, Raimundo J}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence}, issn = {2374-3468}, location = {Singapore, Singapore}, number = {43}, pages = {36146--36154}, publisher = {Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence}, title = {{Revealing POMDPs: Qualitative and quantitative analysis for parity objectives}}, doi = {10.1609/aaai.v40i43.40932}, volume = {40}, year = {2026}, } @article{21725, abstract = {The initial–final mass relation (IFMR) links a star’s birth mass to the mass of its white dwarf (WD) remnant, providing key constraints on stellar evolution. Open clusters offer the most straightforward way to empirically determine the IFMR, as their well-defined ages allow for direct progenitor lifetime estimates. We construct the most comprehensive open cluster WD IFMR to date by combining new spectroscopy of 22 WDs with an extensive literature review of WDs with strong cluster associations. To minimize systematics, we restrict our analysis to spectroscopically confirmed hydrogen-atmosphere (DA) WDs consistent with single-stellar origins. We separately analyze a subset with reliable Gaia-based astrometric membership assessments, as well as a full sample that adds WDs with strong cluster associations whose membership cannot be reliably assessed with Gaia. The Gaia-based sample includes 69 spectroscopically confirmed DA WDs, more than doubling the sample size of previous Gaia-based open cluster IFMRs. The full sample, which includes 53 additional literature WDs, increases the total number of cluster WDs by over 50% relative to earlier works. We provide functional forms for both the Gaia-based and full-sample IFMRs. The Gaia-based result useful for Mi � 2.67 M⊙ is Mf = [0.179 0.100H (Mi 3.84 M )] × (Mi 3.84 M ) + 0.628 M , where H(x) is the Heaviside step function. Comparing our IFMR to recent literature, we identify significant deviations from best-fit IFMRs derived from both Gaia-based volume-limited samples of field WDs and double WD binaries, with the largest discrepancy occurring for initial masses of about 5 M⊙.}, author = {Miller, David R. and Caiazzo, Ilaria and Heyl, Jeremy and Richer, Harvey B. and Hollands, Mark A. and Tremblay, Pier Emmanuel and El-Badry, Kareem and Rodriguez, Antonio C. and Vanderbosch, Zachary P.}, issn = {1538-4357}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal}, keywords = {White dwarf stars, Open star clusters, Compact objects, Stellar evolution}, number = {1}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{The White Dwarf initial–final mass relation from open clusters in Gaia DR3}}, doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae18c8}, volume = {996}, year = {2026}, } @article{21726, abstract = {Quantum control of the many-body wavefunction is a central challenge in quantum materials research, as it could yield a precise control knob to manipulate emergent phenomena. Floquet engineering, the coherent dressing of quantum states with periodic non-resonant optical fields, has become an important strategy for quantum control. Most applications to solid-state systems have targeted weakly interacting or single-ion states, leaving the manipulation of many-body wavefunctions largely unexplored. Here we use Floquet engineering to achieve quantum control of a strongly correlated Hubbard exciton in the one-dimensional Mott insulator Sr2CuO3. A non-resonant mid-infrared optical field coherently dresses the exciton wavefunction, driving its rotation between bright and dark states. We use resonant third-harmonic generation to quantify ultrafast π/2 rotations on the Bloch sphere spanned by these exciton states. Our work advances the quest towards programmable control of correlated states and exciton-based quantum sensing.}, author = {Baykusheva, Denitsa Rangelova and Carmichael, Deven and Weber, Clara S. and Lu, I. Te and Glerean, Filippo and Meng, Tepie and De Oliveira, Pedro B.M. and Homes, Christopher C. and Zaliznyak, Igor A. and Gu, G. D. and Dean, Mark P.M. and Rubio, Angel and Kennes, Dante M. and Claassen, Martin and Mitrano, Matteo}, issn = {1476-4660}, journal = {Nature Materials}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Quantum control of Hubbard excitons}}, doi = {10.1038/s41563-026-02517-6}, year = {2026}, } @article{21730, abstract = {Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a crucial member of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) family, playing roles in cellular signalling and immune responses in human health. Moreover, it is a potential biomarker of diabetes when present in aberrant concentrations. Therefore, monitoring trace levels of H2O2 has become a research hotspot for analytical and sensor chemists. In this context, we report a rhodamine-based fluorescent probe (RN), which shows excellent fluorescent enhancement at 555 nm upon the addition of H2O2 along with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.67 ppm and fast response (∼2 min). The probe is highly selective for H2O2, showing no fluorescence enhancement with other ROS. RN is synthesised in a one-pot chemical reaction using rhodamine 6G (R6G) and 4,7,10-trioxa-1,13-tridecanediamine (TTDA). H2O2 detection in pre-treated milk samples proves its real-world viability. We found that RN shows low cytotoxicity, which allowed us to successfully explore its potential to monitor H2O2 generation in a diabetic L929 skin cell line and diabetic mice liver tissue. This result demonstrates promising features for assessing early diabetic progression through fluorescence imaging.}, author = {Mondal, Moumita and Ghorai, Pravat and Samadder, Asmita and Freunberger, Stefan Alexander and Banerjee, Priyabrata}, issn = {2050-7518}, journal = {Journal of Materials Chemistry B}, publisher = {Royal Society of Chemistry}, title = {{H2O2 responsive rhodamine-based probe for monitoring early-stage diabetes diagnosis}}, doi = {10.1039/d5tb02687c}, year = {2026}, } @unpublished{21737, abstract = {In calculus, l'Hopital's rule provides a simple way to evaluate the limits of quotient functions when both the numerator and denominator vanish. But what happens when we move beyond real functions on a real interval? In this article, we study when the quotient of two complex-valued functions in higher dimension can be defined continuously at the points where both functions vanish. Surprisingly, the answer is far subtler than in the real-valued setting. We provide a complete characterization for the continuity of the quotient function. We also point out why extending this result to smoother quotients remains an intriguing challenge.}, author = {Chern, Albert and Ishida, Sadashige}, booktitle = {arXiv}, keywords = {l’Hopital theorem, complex functions}, title = {{L'Hopital rules for complex-valued functions in higher dimensions}}, doi = {10.48550/ARXIV.2602.09958}, year = {2026}, }