@article{22773, abstract = {An important quantity in liquid state theory is the radial distribution function g(r). It can be calculated within the framework of classical density functional theory in two very distinct ways. In the test-particle route, one fixes a single fluid particle, turning it into an external potential in which the inhomogeneous structure of the fluid is calculated by minimizing the functional. The second route to g(r) in density functional theory employs the Ornstein–Zernike equation and the pair direct correlation function, that can be obtained from the second functional derivatives of the excess (over the ideal gas) free energy functional. Since typically an approximate excess free energy functional is employed, the test-particle route, which requires only one functional derivative, is more accurate than the Ornstein–Zernike route. Here we study a two-dimensional core-shoulder particle system and find that in some circumstances the results from the Ornstein–Zernike route can be comparable in accuracy to the test-particle results for r > σ, the core diameter. We also examine in detail the asymptotic r → ∞ decay of g(r), finding a variety of possible decay wavelengths at different state points and state points where there is a crossover from one wavelength to a very different one. This behavior is a signature pointing to the rich phase behavior of the incipient solid phases.}, author = {Wassermair, Michael and Kahl, Gerhard and Archer, Andrew J. and Roth, Roland}, issn = {1520-5207}, journal = {Journal of Physical Chemistry B}, number = {33}, pages = {8514--8526}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Radial distribution function in a two-dimensional core-shoulder particle system}}, doi = {10.1021/acs.jpcb.6c00653}, volume = {130}, year = {2026}, } @article{22815, abstract = {The mass assembly and chemical enrichment of the first galaxies provide key insights into their star formation histories and the earliest stellar populations at cosmic dawn. Here we compile and utilise new, high-quality spectroscopic JWST/NIRSpec Prism observations from the JWST archive. In particular, we extend the wavelength coverage beyond the standard pipeline cut-off (5.3 μm) up to 5.5 μm, which enables for the first time a detailed examination of the rest-frame optical emission-line properties for galaxies at z ≈ 10. Crucially, the improved calibration allows us to detect Hβ and the [O III] λλ4959, 5007 doublet and resolve the auroral [O III] λ4363 line for the 11 galaxies in our sample (z = 9.3 − 10.0) to obtain direct Te-based metallicity measurements. We find that the interstellar medium (ISM) of all galaxies shows high ionisation fields and electron temperatures, with derived metallicities in the range 12 + log(O/H) = 7.1 − 8.3 (3–50% solar), consistent with previous strong-line diagnostics based on JWST data at high redshifts. We derive an empirical relation for MUV and 12 + log(O/H) at z ≈ 10, useful for future higher-redshift studies, and show that the sample galaxies are ‘typical’ star-forming galaxies though with relatively high specific star formation rates (median sSFR = SFRHβ/M★ = 38 Gyr−1) and with evidence of bursty star formation on 10 Myr versus 100 Myr timescales (log10(SFR10/SFR100)≈0.7). Combining the rest-frame optical line analysis and detailed UV to optical spectro-photometric modelling, we determine the mass-metallicity relation (MZR) and the fundamental metallicity relation (FMR) of the sample, pushing the previous redshift frontier of these measurements to z = 10. These results, together with literature measurements, point to a gradually decreasing MZR at higher redshifts, with a break in the FMR at z ≈ 3, decreasing to metallicities ≈3× lower at z = 10 than observed in galaxies during the majority of cosmic time at z = 0 − 3, likely caused by massive pristine gas inflows diluting the observed metal abundances during early galaxy assembly at cosmic dawn.}, author = {Pollock, Clara L. and Gottumukkala, Rashmi and Heintz, Kasper E. and Brammer, Gabriel B. and Roberts-Borsani, Guido and Oesch, Pascal A. and Witstok, Joris and Arellano-Córdova, Karla Z. and Cullen, Fergus and Scholte, Dirk and Terp, Chamilla and Rowland, Lucie and Sneppen, Albert and Ito, Kei and Valentino, Francesco and Matthee, Jorryt J and Watson, Darach and Toft, Sune}, issn = {1432-0746}, journal = {Astronomy & Astrophysics}, publisher = {EDP Sciences}, title = {{Novel z ∼ 10 auroral line measurements extend the gradual offset of the fundamental metallicity relation deep into the first gigayear of cosmic time}}, doi = {10.1051/0004-6361/202556032}, volume = {708}, year = {2026}, } @article{22772, abstract = {The cytoplasmic antiviral sensor MDA5 is activated by double-stranded RNAs. Endogenous double-stranded RNAs are modified by the A-to-I RNA-editing ADAR family to prevent activation of MDA5. In vivo, cytoplasmic ADAR1p150 is critically required to suppress MDA5 activation, yet the editing signature of all ADAR isoforms is strongly overlapping in mice. Further, it is not clear how A-to-I modifications in dsRNA prevent MDA5 activation. Here we show that 3′ UTRs harboring inverted repeats activate MDA5 in vitro and in cells. In vitro editing by either ADAR isoform leads to editing at overlapping hotspot regions and prevents MDA5 activation in vitro and in cells. Remarkably, only inosines introduced by RNA editing are capable of suppressing MDA5 activation, while replacing guanosines with inosines during in vitro transcription has no impact on MDA5 activation. A comparison of inosines introduced by ADAR1p150 in vitro, in cells, and in vivo suggests that a small number of A-to-I conversions may be critically required to suppress MDA5 activation. As those critical editing events are predominantly altering A:U basepairs into I:U wobble basepairs, we suggest that the helical distortion introduced by those wobble pairs may prevent MDA5 polymerization and thus downstream activation of the type I interferon response.}, author = {Varada, Rajagopal and Leuchtenberger, Alina F. and Vesely, Cornelia and Kaczmarek, Beata M and Mansouri Khosravi, Hamid and Mandl, Therese C. and Milanovic, Katarina and Honarmand Tamizkar, Kasra and Rajendra, Vinod and Senoner, Hannes and Steinbichl, Linda and Borojevic, Marija and Sombke, Andy and Schmidt, Katy and Eckhard, Margret and Hofacker, Ivo L. and Walkley, Carl and Heraud-Farlow, Jacki E. and Picardi, Ernesto and Bernecky, Carrie A and Jantsch, Michael F.}, issn = {1362-4962}, journal = {Nucleic Acids Research}, number = {16}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, title = {{Distinguishing self from non-self RNA by editing-specific inosine patterns}}, doi = {10.1093/nar/gkag845}, volume = {54}, year = {2026}, } @article{22814, abstract = {We present a study of a pseudo little red dot with no metal lines (Pseudo-LRD-NOM), a highly magnified lowmass galaxy behind the lensing cluster A370 at z = 5.96. We classify this object as a pseudo-LRD because its red rest-frame optical color is contaminated by a prominent Hα line (with EW0 ≳ 800 Å) present in its JWST NIRSpec spectrum. Hα is dominated by a narrow component and also has a minor broad component indicative of an active black hole with MBH ≈ 5.6 × 10^6 M⊙. A narrow Hβ emission line is also detected (where the signal-tonoise ratio, S/N, is 8), producing a Balmer decrement (narrow) Hα/Hβ = 11. The rest-frame UV spectral slope is ßspec/uv = - 1.20 ± 0.28. All these features can be ascribed to high dust attenuation. However, no [O III]λ5007 or any other metal lines are detected in the spectrum, so [O III]5007/Hβ < 0.25, at odds with a simple dust attenuation explanation. Accounting for all the spectral properties requires the model of a starburst with moderate color excess E(B − V )≈0.2–0.5, high gas density (nH ≳ 10^6 cm^−3 ), and low- to extremely-low gas/stellar metallicities (Z = 0.01–0.1 Z⊙). The demagnified stellar mass is × 2.25+ 0 1 . . 8 3 3 0 10^7 M , and the stellar-mass surface density is = + * 418 M pc 310 725 2, similar to that of massive/nuclear star clusters. Pseudo-LRD-NOM provides evidence of massive black-hole growth occurring in a high-density, dusty starburst that is at the early stages of its chemical enrichment, and is likely a precursor to a real LRD.}, author = {Caputi, Karina I. and Cooper, Ryan A. and Rinaldi, Pierluigi and Navarro-Carrera, Rafael and Iani, Edoardo and Tumborang, Abigail A.}, issn = {1538-4357}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal}, number = {2}, publisher = {IOP Publishing}, title = {{Pseudo Little Red Dot: An active black hole embedded in a dense and dusty, metal-poor starburst galaxy at z = 5.96}}, doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae80b9}, volume = {1007}, year = {2026}, } @article{22812, abstract = {Efficient data structures for computing the cutset of a set of nodes in a graph undergoing dynamic edge insertions/deletions are well-studied in undirected graphs. We study this problem in directed graphs and show a reduction from the Online Boolean Matrix-Vector Multiplication Conjecture (OMv) introduced by Henzinger et al. [STOC’15]. We prove conditional on OMv that a dynamic data structure computing the directed cutset of a set of nodes cannot have an amortized time of both O(n2−ε) for a query operation and O(n1−ε) for an update operation, for any constant ε > 0, even when an adversary’s operations are restricted to the incremental or decremental settings. We further give algorithms to match these lower bounds.}, author = {Hahn, Niklas and Henzinger, Monika H and Stefankovic, Zofia}, issn = {0020-0190}, journal = {Information Processing Letters}, keywords = {Dynamic algorithms, Graph algorithms, Directed graphs, Lower bounds, Upper bounds}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Tight bounds on the performance of dynamic directed cutset data structures based on OMv}}, doi = {10.1016/j.ipl.2026.106663}, volume = {195}, year = {2026}, } @article{22813, abstract = {Consider a bipartite quantum system, where Alice and Bob jointly possess a pure state |ψ. Using local quantum operations on their respective subsystems, and unlimited classical communication, Alice and Bob may be able to transform |ψ into another state |φ. Famously, Nielsen’s theorem [28] provides a necessary and sufficient algebraic criterion for such a transformation to be possible (namely, the entanglement spectrum of |φ should majorise the entanglement spectrum of |ψ). In the paper where Nielsen proved this theorem, he conjectured that in the limit of large dimensionality, for almost all pairs of states |ψ, |φ (according to the natural unitary invariant measure) such a transformation is not possible. That is to say, typical pairs of quantum states |ψ, |φ are entangled in fundamentally different ways, that cannot be converted to each other via local operations and classical communication.ViaNielsen’s theorem, this conjecture can be equivalently stated as a conjecture about majorisation of spectra of random matrices from the so-called trace-normalised complex Wishart–Laguerre ensemble. Concretely, let X and Y be independent n × m random matrices whose entries are i.i.d. standard complex Gaussians; then Nielsen’s conjecture says that the probability that the spectrum of XX†/ tr(XX†) majorises the spectrum of YY†/ tr(YY†) tends to zero as both n and m grow large. We prove this conjecture, and we also confirm some related predictions of Cunden et al. [12].}, author = {Jain, Vishesh and Kwan, Matthew Alan and Michelen, Marcus}, issn = {1432-0916}, journal = {Communications in Mathematical Physics}, number = {10}, publisher = {Springer}, title = {{Entangled states are typically incomparable}}, doi = {10.1007/s00220-026-05711-4}, volume = {407}, year = {2026}, } @article{22818, abstract = {Physical processes at play in the genesis and evolution of tropical cyclones are conducive to the formation of warm cores at their centres. When the warm anomaly is particularly large in the upper troposphere, it is referred to as a high-level warm core. Previous works documented the generation of high-level warm cores as a consequence of stratospheric air intrusion into the troposphere induced by the upper-level dynamics of a tropical cyclone. However, little attention has been given to their effects on the storm's subsequent evolution. It has been suggested that the presence of a high-level warm core can have opposite effects on tropical cyclone intensity: both strengthening and weakening have been described as possible consequences of its formation. In this study, we examine the role of high-level warm cores in the intensification and dissipation processes of tropical cyclones, as reproduced in numerical models of different complexities, namely the model “System for Atmospheric Modeling” (SAM) run under idealized conditions and the model Nonhydrostatic ICosahedral Atmospheric Model run under realistic conditions following the DYnamics of the Atmospheric general circulation Modeled On Non-hydrostatic Domains summer protocol. Our results confirm the hypothesis of a stratospheric origin behind the formation of high-level warm cores. Their initial role is shown to be an enhancement of storm intensity, by a lowering of the hydrostatic sea-level pressure (HSLP) associated with the presence of warm air aloft. However, as the warm anomaly intensifies and extends to lower levels, it also increases static stability in the air column, with the consequence of inhibiting convection and ultimately contributing to cyclone dissipation. These findings suggest that high-level warm cores play a dual role in the tropical cyclone life cycle, providing a stabilizing mechanism that can limit cyclone strength and longevity.}, author = {Davin, Andrea and Charinti, Giousef Alexandros and Muller, Caroline J and Polesello, Andrea and Pasquero, Claudia}, issn = {1477-870X}, journal = {Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Stratospheric influence on tropical cyclone evolution}}, doi = {10.1002/qj.70280}, year = {2026}, } @article{22817, abstract = {Using deep, medium-resolution, JWST rest-optical spectra of a sample of typical star-forming galaxies (Lyman-break galaxies and Lyman-α emitters) from the LyC22 survey at z ∼ 3, we determined the nebular abundances of N, O, and Ne relative to H for a subsample of 25 objects with a direct method based on auroral [O III] λ4363 line detections. Our measurements increased the number of accurate N/O determinations at z ∼ 2 − 4 using a homogeneous approach. We found a mean value of log(N/O) = −+0.25−0.21 over a metallicity range of 12 + log(O/H) = 7.56 to 8.44. The observed N/O ratio and scatter are indistinguishable from that observed in low-z galaxies and H II regions over the same metallicity range, thus showing no redshift evolution of N/O for typical galaxies over a significant fraction of cosmic time. We also show that typical z ∼ 3 galaxies have a similar offset in the BPT diagram to galaxies from the low-z Lyman Continuum Survey (LzLCS) when compared to the average of SDSS galaxies, and we demonstrate that this offset is not due to enhanced nitrogen abundances. Our results establish a basis for future studies of the evolution of N and O at higher redshifts.}, author = {Schaerer, D. and Izotov, Y. I. and Marques-Chaves, R. and Steidel, C. C. and Reddy, N. and Shapley, A. E. and Mascia, Sara and Chisholm, J. and Flury, S. R. and Guseva, N. and Heckman, T. and Henry, A. and Inoue, A. K. and Jung, I. and Kusakabe, H. and Mawatari, K. and Oesch, P. and Östlin, G. and Pentericci, L. and Roy, N. and Saldana-Lopez, A. and Sato, R. and Vanzella, E. and Verhamme, A. and Wang, B.}, issn = {1432-0746}, journal = {Astronomy & Astrophysics}, publisher = {EDP Sciences}, title = {{Nitrogen abundances in star-forming galaxies 2.2 Gyr after the Big Bang are not elevated}}, doi = {10.1051/0004-6361/202556832}, volume = {708}, year = {2026}, } @article{22819, abstract = {Bio-inspired photonic synapses integrate optical sensing, memory, and processing in a single platform, overcoming the bottlenecks of traditional CMOS-based vision sensors. Most existing neuromorphic vision systems either rely on electrical inputs for bidirectional conductance modulation, limiting their operating speed and bandwidth, or lack nonvolatility, leading to nonlinear weight updates and poor efficiency in image recognition tasks. Here, we report a two-terminal, fully light-controlled synaptic memristor based on CsPbBr3/ZnO nanorod heterojunction that demonstrates 4-bit memory storage and optical logic operations within a single architecture. The device emulates essential functions of both excitatory and inhibitory synapses, utilizing positive photoconductivity under UV illumination (λ = 375 nm) and anomalous negative photoconductivity under visible light (λ = 450 nm). By controlling defect concentrations at the CsPbBr3/ZnO nanorod interface, the device exhibits nonvolatile multibit memory with near-linear, symmetric conductance modulation, achieving 92.4% image recognition accuracy with a convolutional neural network. The bidirectional photoresponse enables reconfigurable optical logic operations, demonstrating integrated logic-in-memory. Additionally, when integrated on a flexible platform, the device demonstrates stable synaptic performance under repeated mechanical bending. These results highlight the potential of CsPbBr3/ZnO nanorod heterojunction-based all-photonic synapses as building blocks for multibit storage, optical information processing, and wearable neuromorphic vision systems.}, author = {Saha, Subham and Das, Shreyasi and Roy, Baidyanath and Ghosh, Santu Kumar and Satpathy, Rohit and Bullock, James and Unnithan, Ranjith R. and Ray, Samit K.}, issn = {1613-6829}, journal = {Small}, keywords = {all-optical synapse, bidirectional photoresponse, defect engineering, flexible neuromorphic vision, multibit nonvolatile memory, negativephotoconductivity, optical logic gate}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Interface engineered perovskite-oxide heterojunction all-photonic synapses for multibit memory, optical logic, and wearable neuromorphic vision}}, doi = {10.1002/smll.75437}, year = {2026}, } @article{22821, abstract = {With probability 1, we assess the average behaviour of various arithmetic functions at the values of degree 𝑑 polynomials 𝑓∈ℤ⁢[𝑡] that are ordered by height. This allows us to establish averaged versions of the Bateman–Horn conjecture, the polynomial Chowla conjecture and to address a basic question about the integral Hasse principle for norm form equations. Moreover, we are able to quantify the error term in the asymptotics and the size of the exceptional set of 𝑓, both with arbitrary logarithmic power savings.}, author = {Browning, Timothy D and Sofos, Efthymios and Teräväinen, Joni}, issn = {1435-5345}, journal = {Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik}, publisher = {De Gruyter}, title = {{Bateman-Horn, polynomial Chowla and the Hasse principle with probability}}, doi = {10.1515/crelle-2026-0062}, year = {2026}, } @inproceedings{22820, abstract = {We introduce a new primitive, called beholder signatures (Full version [14] of the paper is available at https://eprint.iacr.org/2025/1900), which, in some sense, are the opposite of blind signatures. In a beholder signature, one signs a commitment to a (potentially very long) message, and the signature attests that the parties participating in the signing process, who know the secret key, jointly also know the entire committed message. This guarantee holds even against distributed adversaries that use secure multi-party computation (MPC) to produce the signature. We work in the distributed adversarial model (Dziembowski, Faust, and Lizurej, Crypto’23), where one assumes that it is infeasible to evaluate a large number of hash queries without any of the participating parties learning the input. We propose a construction of beholder signatures in the random oracle model. The starting point of our construction is proofs of complete knowledge, recently proposed by (Kelkar et al. CCS’24), which build on Fischlin’s transformation of a sigma protocol to a non-interactive, straight-line extractable zero-knowledge proof of knowledge. Our scheme is concretely efficient and comes with a proof-of-concept implementation using Schnorr as the underlying sigma protocol. The primary applications of beholder signatures can be found within the blockchain space. In particular, we describe how to use them to construct proofs of custody (Feist, 2021) that do not require ephemeral keys and are non-interactive. We also outline applications to data dissemination, data availability, and proofs of replication.}, author = {Dziembowski, Stefan and Faust, Sebastian and Kedzior, Paweł and Mielniczuk, Marcin and Mohanty, Susil Kumar and Pietrzak, Krzysztof Z}, booktitle = {46th Annual International Cryptology Conference}, isbn = {9783032353733}, issn = {1611-3349}, location = {Santa Barbara, CA, United States}, pages = {134--165}, publisher = {Springer}, title = {{Beholder signatures}}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-032-35374-0_5}, volume = {16801}, year = {2026}, } @phdthesis{21863, abstract = {Atoms and photons, two things so different but yet so alike. The former, the building block of matter, something we learn about in school and imagine it as some tiny marbles encircled by other tinier marbles. The latter, an electromagnetic wave, a light particle or an excitation of the electromagnetic field. Quantum mechanics tells us about the properties of these two entities. And even if it sounds, looks and writes counter-intuitive, it has proven right for over a century now. In this work, I elaborate on how we tested the laws of quantum mechanics and how we used them learn more about the tiny building blocks of nature and the fields they use to talk to each other. The atoms we use, are artificial. Superconducting qubits, small electrical circuits with quantized energy levels behave like electrons that transition between different orbitals in an atom. One of the qubits' advantages, is also a big disadvantage. We design the circuits' energy levels and fabricate them in a cleanroom. This allows for arbitrary spaced energy levels but in contrast to real atoms, prevents two superconducting qubits from being alike. Still, this qubit platform is one of the frontrunners for future quantum computing technology and testing fundamental physics due to their scalability. We interface superconducting qubits, which operate in the GHz regime, with microwave photons. We use 3D aluminum cavities as mediators between qubits and photons. The cavities allow for non-destructive readout of the qubit state, they shield the qubits from noise at the qubit frequency and they give us an easy way to frequency-tune these joint systems. We need to operate superconducting qubits and their cavities at millikelvin temperatures in dilution refrigerators. At higher temperatures, superconductivity suffers and even worse, the environment is filled with thermal noise photons. This poses a fundamental limitation on the scalability of superconducting qubit devices. Also connecting multiple devices in different fridges does not work over room temperature links because the microwave photons used for this purpose will be covered in noise and the quantum information they carry, will be unusable. Infrared photons do not suffer from this noise problem since there are close to zero thermal noise photons at their frequencies at room temperature. We cannot simply interface superconducting devices with optical photons due their frequency mismatch and the destructive effect of optical photons on superconductors. Therefore, we use microwave-to-optics transducers that allow to convert microwave photons into optical ones and vice-versa. The transducers that we use are macroscopic electro-optic transducers using the Pockels effect in a disk-shaped Lithium Niobate whispering gallery mode resonator. By using a strong optical pump, photons from the two frequency domains experience a beam-splitter interaction and get converted from one to the other. We measure the generated optical photons using elaborate optical setups, optical heterodyning and single photon detectors to gain knowledge about the qubit state or the converted microwave photons. Bridging the microwave and the optical world allows us to take advantage of both of their strengths but it also requires deep knowledge about both of their working principles. In this work, we describe two experiments that our group conducted to showcase the opportunities that arise from interfacing superconducting qubits with optical photons but also the pitfalls, one may encounter on the way. In the first experiment, we managed to all-optically read out a superconducting qubit. We show that the assignment fidelity, the probability that a measurement of the qubit state matches the prepared state, is close to equal for all-optical, microwave-to-optics and conventional microwave readout. We show T1 and T2 measurements for all three readout types and give an analysis of the noise caused by the optics. Finally, we show that the infrared light does not affect the qubit performance in a negative way but that the heating it causes does. This is an important insight that we used in the next experiment. The second experiment is the upconversion of itinerant single microwave photons to the optical domain. We show that we can generate single microwave photons from a qubit-cavity system. We upconvert these single photons, measure them with a single photon detector and reconstruct their shape. By conducting a single photon Rabi measurement, we show correlations between the microwave and the optical domain. And by thorough signal-to-noise measurements and noise analysis, we find that we can generate single infrared photons with high signal-to-noise ratio 5.1 and low transducer added noise (<0.012 quanta). We show that this measurement creates a path towards entanglement of a superconducting qubit and an optical photon and what parameters need to be improved to achieve it. Additionally, this experiment is a proof of principle for an on-demand infrared single photon source. More generally, it allows to link microwave quantum technology in general to the optical domain.}, author = {Werner, Thomas}, issn = {2663-337X}, keywords = {Superconducting qubits, Quantum optics, Single photons and quantum effects, Nonlinear optics}, pages = {97}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Interfacing superconducting qubits with optical photons}}, doi = {10.15479/AT-ISTA-21863}, year = {2026}, } @unpublished{21870, abstract = {Superconducting qubits are a leading candidate for utility-scale quantum computing due to their fast gate speeds and steadily decreasing error rates. The requirement for millikelvin operating temperatures, however, creates a significant scaling bottleneck. Modular architectures using optical fiber links could bridge separate cryogenic nodes, but superconducting circuits do not have coherent optical transitions and microwave-to-optical conversion has not been shown for any non-classical photon state. In this work, we demonstrate the on-demand generation and tomographic reconstruction of itinerant single microwave photons at 8.9 GHz from a superconducting qubit. We upconvert this non-Gaussian state with a transducer added noise below 0.012 quanta and count the converted telecom photons at 193.4 THz with a signal-to-noise ratio of up to 5.1$\pm$1.1. We characterize the trade-offs between throughput and noise, and establish a viable path toward heralded entanglement distribution and gate teleportation. Looking ahead, these results empower existing superconducting devices to take a key role in distributed quantum technologies and heterogeneous quantum systems.}, author = {Werner, Thomas and Riyazi, Erfan and Hawaldar, Samarth and Sahu, Rishabh and Arnold, Georg M and Paul Falthansl-Scheinecker, Paul Falthansl-Scheinecker and Naranjo, Jennifer A. Sánchez and Loi, Dante and Kapoor, Lucky N. and Zemlicka, Martin and Qiu, Liu and Militaru, Andrei and Fink, Johannes M}, booktitle = {arXiv}, title = {{Electro-optic conversion of itinerant Fock states}}, doi = {10.48550/arXiv.2602.00928}, year = {2026}, } @phdthesis{22745, author = {Michalik, David}, issn = {2663-337X}, pages = {182}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Mechanistic insights into MDA5 selectivity and regulation}}, doi = {10.15479/AT-ISTA-22745}, year = {2026}, } @article{22911, abstract = {The shape of animal cells is controlled by their surface, which comprises the cell cortex, a peripheral actin network, tethered to the plasma membrane by membrane-to-cortex attachment proteins. Changes in cortical components have long been considered to dominate the regulation of forces and mechanical properties at the cell surface and drive morphogenesis. Here, we show that the coupling of the cortex to the membrane is also key for the regulation of its mechanical properties. By combining molecular engineering with biophysical approaches and in-cell cryo-electron tomography we describe the cell surface with nanometer-resolution and link its organization to cell-scale mechanics. We find that membrane-to-cortex attachment proteins can physically draw the cortex closer to the membrane, in a density and length-dependent manner. This reduction of the membrane-to-cortex distance controls the activity of the formin mDia1, leading to a reduction in cortical tension. Our study thus defines a novel mechanism whereby the membrane-to-cortex distance is a functional geometrical parameter that regulates cell surface properties.}, author = {Strauss, Léanne and Lembo, Sergio and Gérard, Samuel F. and Siggel, Marc and Cheng, Dorothy and Bergert, Martin and Foster, Sarah K. and Vermeil, Joseph and Toro-Nahuelpan, Mauricio and Fischer, Lena M. and Yu, Qin and Sitarska, Ewa and Chan, Chii Jou and Kosinski, Jan and Piel, Matthieu and Du Roure, Olivia and Heuvingh, Julien and Mahamid, Julia and Diz-Muñoz, Alba}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{The membrane-to-cortex distance regulates mDia1 activity to control cortical mechanics}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-72845-3}, volume = {17}, year = {2026}, } @article{22912, abstract = {Deep convection from tropical cyclones (TCs) can reach the height of the tropopause and as such an interaction between the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere is likely to occur. Such interactions have been reported in both numerical and observational studies, mainly showing that subsidence from the stratosphere into the eye of an intensifying storm leads to a high-level warm core. However, the effect of this upper-level warming on the intensity of the TCs is not yet well understood. In this study, we show that subsiding air from the stratosphere beyond subsidence in the eye is the reason for the upper-level warming in idealized simulations. We further show that it is possible to quantify the effects of the upper-level warming on the potential intensity of the TC. Finally, we conclude that overshooting convection into the stratosphere causes the observed subsidence, as both become more pronounced with increasing sea-surface temperatures (SST).}, author = {Charinti, Giousef Alexandros and Davin, Andrea and Polesello, Andrea and Muller, Caroline J and Pasquero, Claudia}, issn = {1944-8007}, journal = {Geophysical Research Letters}, number = {17}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Impact of upper-level warming on tropical cyclone intensity}}, doi = {10.1029/2025GL121307}, volume = {53}, 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}, } @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}, } @inproceedings{22146, abstract = {We study differentially private model training with stochastic gradient descent under learning rate scheduling and correlated noise. Although correlated noise, in particular via matrix factorizations, has been shown to improve accuracy, prior theoretical work focused primarily on the prefix-sum workload. That workload assumes a constant learning rate, whereas in practice learning rate schedules are widely used to accelerate training and improve convergence. We close this gap by deriving general upper and lower bounds for a broad class of learning rate schedules in both single- and multi-epoch settings. Building on these results, we propose a learning-rate-aware factorization that achieves improvements over prefix-sum factorizations under both MaxSE and MeanSE error metrics. Our theoretical analysis yields memory-efficient constructions suitable for practical deployment, and experiments on CIFAR-10 and IMDB datasets confirm that schedule-aware factorizations improve accuracy in private training.}, author = {Kalinin, Nikita and Andersson, Joel D}, booktitle = {7th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing}, isbn = {9783959774192}, issn = {1868-8969}, keywords = {differential privacy, machine learning, matrix factorization}, location = {Cambridge, MA; United States}, publisher = {Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik}, title = {{Learning rate scheduling with matrix factorization for private training}}, doi = {10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2026.2}, volume = {368}, year = {2026}, } @article{22102, abstract = {Differential privacy (DP) has established itself as one of the standards for ensuring privacy of individual data. However, reasoning about DP is a challenging and error-prone task, hence methods for formal verification and refutation of DP properties have received significant interest in recent years. In this work, we present a novel method for automated formal refutation of є-DP. Our method refutes є-DP by searching for a pair of inputs together with a non-negative function over outputs whose expected value on these two inputs differs by a significant amount. The two inputs and the non-negative function over outputs are computed simultaneously, by utilizing upper expectation supermartingales and lower expectation submartingales from probabilistic program analysis, which we leverage to introduce a sound and complete proof rule for є-DP refutation. To the best of our knowledge, our method is the first method for є-DP refutation to offer the following four desirable features: (1) it is fully automated, (2) it is applicable to stochastic mechanisms with sampling instructions from both discrete and continuous distributions, (3) it provides soundness guarantees, and (4) it provides semi-completeness guarantees. Our experiments show that our prototype tool SuperDP achieves superior performance compared to the state of the art and manages to refute є-DP for a number of challenging examples collected from the literature, including ones that were out of the reach of prior methods.}, author = {Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Kafshdar Goharshadi, Ehsan and Zikelic, Dorde}, issn = {2475-1421}, journal = {Proceedings of the ACM on Programming Languages}, keywords = {Static Program Analysis, Differential Privacy, Probabilistic Programming, Martingales}, number = {PLDI}, publisher = {ACM}, title = {{SuperDP: Differential privacy refutation via supermartingales}}, doi = {10.1145/3808296}, volume = {10}, year = {2026}, }