A Causal Set Black Hole

We explicitly compute the causal structure of the Schwarzschild black hole spacetime, by providing an algorithm to decide if any pair of events is causally related. The primary motivation for this study comes from discrete quantum gravity, in particular the causal set approach, in which the fundamental variables can be thought of as the causal ordering of randomly selected events in spacetime. This work opens the way to simulating non-conformally flat spacetimes within the causal set approach, which may allow one to study important questions such as black hole entropy and Hawking radiation on a full four dimensional causal set black hole.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, LaTeX; response to referee comment

Malliavin calculus for backward stochastic differential equations and application to numerical solutions

In this paper we study backward stochastic differential equations with general terminal value and general random generator. In particular, we do not require the terminal value be given by a forward diffusion equation. The randomness of the generator does not need to be from a forward equation, either. Motivated from applications to numerical simulations, first we obtain the $L^p$-H\"{o}lder continuity of the solution. Then we construct several numerical approximation schemes for backward stochastic differential equations and obtain the rate of convergence of the schemes based on the obtained $L^p$-H\"{o}lder continuity results. The main tool is the Malliavin calculus.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/11-AAP762 the Annals of Applied Probability (http://www.imstat.org/aap/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Efficient Consumer Altruism and Fair Trade

Consumers have shown willingness to pay a premium for products labeled as "Fair Trade" and to prefer retailers that are seen as more generous to their suppliers and employees. We define a fair trade product as a bundle of a consumption good and a donation. An altruistic consumer will only choose this bundle over its separate elements if the bundle is less expensive. Thus, for fair trade to be sustainable in a competitive equilibrium, an efficiency must be generated. In general, the first-best level of investment (to reduce the retailer's cost or boosts quality) cannot be achieved when it is non-verifiable. However, the altruism of the consumer facilitates a more efficient contract: by paying the supplier more, the retailer can both extract more consumer surplus and increase the level of contracted investment, while preserving incentive compatibility. We provide empirical and anecdotal evidence for the assumptions and predictions of this model, focusing on the coffee industry.

Feynman-Kac formula for heat equation driven by fractional white noise

We establish a version of the Feynman-Kac formula for the multidimensional stochastic heat equation with a multiplicative fractional Brownian sheet. We use the techniques of Malliavin calculus to prove that the process defined by the Feynman-Kac formula is a weak solution of the stochastic heat equation. From the Feynman-Kac formula, we establish the smoothness of the density of the solution and the H\"{o}lder regularity in the space and time variables. We also derive a Feynman-Kac formula for the stochastic heat equation in the Skorokhod sense and we obtain the Wiener chaos expansion of the solution.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/10-AOP547 the Annals of Probability (http://www.imstat.org/aop/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Common Codebook Millimeter Wave Beam Design: Designing Beams for Both Sounding and Communication with Uniform Planar Arrays

Fifth generation (5G) wireless networks are expected to utilize wide bandwidths available at millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies for enhancing system throughput. However, the unfavorable channel conditions of mmWave links, e.g., higher path loss and attenuation due to atmospheric gases or water vapor, hinder reliable communications. To compensate for these severe losses, it is essential to have a multitude of antennas to generate sharp and strong beams for directional transmission. In this paper, we consider mmWave systems using uniform planar array (UPA) antennas, which effectively place more antennas on a two-dimensional grid. A hybrid beamforming setup is also considered to generate beams by combining a multitude of antennas using only a few radio frequency chains. We focus on designing a set of transmit beamformers generating beams adapted to the directional characteristics of mmWave links assuming a UPA and hybrid beamforming. We first define ideal beam patterns for UPA structures. Each beamformer is constructed to minimize the mean squared error from the corresponding ideal beam pattern. Simulation results verify that the proposed codebooks enhance beamforming reliability and data rate in mmWave systems.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figure

Strain-controlled fundamental gap and structure of bulk black phosphorus

We study theoretically the structural and electronic response of layered bulk black phosphorus to in-layer strain. Ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the strain energy and interlayer spacing display a strong anisotropy with respect to the uniaxial strain direction. To correctly describe the dependence of the fundamental band gap on strain, we used the computationally more involved GW quasiparticle approach that is free of parameters and superior to DFT studies, which are known to underestimate gap energies. We find that the band gap depends sensitively on the in-layer strain and even vanishes at compressive strain values exceeding about 2%, thus suggesting a possible application of black P in strain-controlled infrared devices.Comment: Phys. Rev. B (2016

A Model of Consistent Node Types in Signed Directed Social Networks

Signed directed social networks, in which the relationships between users can be either positive (indicating relations such as trust) or negative (indicating relations such as distrust), are increasingly common. Thus the interplay between positive and negative relationships in such networks has become an important research topic. Most recent investigations focus upon edge sign inference using structural balance theory or social status theory. Neither of these two theories, however, can explain an observed edge sign well when the two nodes connected by this edge do not share a common neighbor (e.g., common friend). In this paper we develop a novel approach to handle this situation by applying a new model for node types. Initially, we analyze the local node structure in a fully observed signed directed network, inferring underlying node types. The sign of an edge between two nodes must be consistent with their types; this explains edge signs well even when there are no common neighbors. We show, moreover, that our approach can be extended to incorporate directed triads, when they exist, just as in models based upon structural balance or social status theory. We compute Bayesian node types within empirical studies based upon partially observed Wikipedia, Slashdot, and Epinions networks in which the largest network (Epinions) has 119K nodes and 841K edges. Our approach yields better performance than state-of-the-art approaches for these three signed directed networks.Comment: To appear in the IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Network Analysis and Mining (ASONAM), 201