We show that the semi-classical analysis of generic Euclidean path integrals necessarily requires complexification of the action and measure, and consideration of complex saddle solutions. We demonstrate that complex saddle points have a natural interpretation in terms of the Picard-Lefschetz theory. Motivated in part by the semi-classical expansion of QCD with adjoint matter on R3 ⇥ S1, we study quantum-mechanical systems with bosonic and fermionic (Grassmann) degrees of freedom with harmonic degenerate minima, as well as (related) purely bosonic systems with harmonic non-degenerate minima. We find exact finite action non-BPS bounce and bion solutions to the holomorphic Newton equations. We find not only real solutions, but also complex solution with non-trivial monodromy, and finally complex multi-valued and singular solutions. Complex bions are necessary for obtaining the correct non-perturbative structure of these models. In the supersymmetric limit the complex solutions govern the ground state properties, and their contribution to the semiclassical expansion is necessary to obtain consistency with the supersymmetry algebra. The multi-valuedness of the action is either related to the hidden topological angle or to the resurgent cancellation of ambiguities. We also show that in the approximate multi-instanton description the integration over the complex quasi-zero mode thimble produces the most salient features of the exact solutions. While exact complex saddles are more difficult to construct in quantum field theory, the relation to the approximate thimble construction suggests that such solutions may be underlying some remarkable features of approximate bion saddles in quantum field theories.

New, “big data” sources allow measurement of city characteristics and outcomevariables at higher collection frequencies and more granular geographic scales thanever before. However, big data will not solve large urban social science questionson its own. Big urban data has the most value for the study of cities when it allowsmeasurement of the previously opaque, or when it can be coupled with exogenous shocksto people or place. We describe a number of new urban data sources and illustrate howthey can be used to improve the study and function of cities. We rst show how GoogleStreet View images can be used to predict income in New York City, suggesting thatsimilar imagery data can be used to map wealth and poverty in previously unmeasuredareas of the developing world. We then discuss how survey techniques can be improved tobetter measure willingness to pay for urban amenities. Finally, we explain how Internetdata is being used to improve the quality of city services.

Bosonic topological insulators (BTI) in three dimensions are symmetry-protected topological phases (SPT) protected by time-reversal and boson number conservation symmetries. BTI in three dimensions were first proposed and classified by the group cohomology theory which suggests two distinct root states, each carrying a Z2 index. Soon after, surface anomalous topological orders were proposed to identify different root states of BTI, which even leads to a new BTI root state beyond the group cohomology classification. In this paper, we propose a universal physical mechanism via vortex-line condensation from a 3d superfluid to achieve all three root states. It naturally produces bulk topological quantum field theory (TQFT) description for each root state. Topologically ordered states on the surface are rigorously derived by placing TQFT on an open manifold, which allows us to explicitly demonstrate the bulk-boundary correspondence. Finally, we generalize the mechanism to ZN symmetries and discuss potential SPT phases beyond the group cohomology classification.

We provide a unified approach for constructing Wick words in mixed q-Gaussian algebras, which are generated by sj = aj +a ∗ j , j = 1, · · · , N, where aia ∗ j −qija ∗ j ai = δij . Here we also allow equality in −1 ≤ qij = qji ≤ 1. This approach relies on Speicher’s central limit theorem and the ultraproduct of von Neumann algebras. We also use the unified argument to show that the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck semigroup is hypercontractive, the Riesz transform associated to the number operator is bounded, and the number operator satisfies the Lp Poincar´e inequalities with constants C √p. Finally we prove that the mixed q-Gaussian algebra is weakly amenable and strongly solid in the sense of Ozawa and Popa. Our approach is mainly combinatorial and probabilistic. The results in this paper can be regarded as generalizations of previous results due to Speicher, Biane, Lust-Piquard, Avsec, et al.

The present article surmmarizes our recent results about Calabi–Yau threefolds with infinite fundamental group. This class of Calabi–Yau manifolds is relatively simple yet rich enough to display the essential complexities of Calabi–Yau geometries, and thus it provides good testing-grounds for general theories and conjectures.

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We study the heat kernel expansion of the Laplacian on n-forms defined on a subgraph of a directed complete graph. We derive two expressions for the subgraph heat kernel on 0-forms and compute the coefficients of the expansion. We also obtain the subgraph heat kernel of the Laplacian on 1-forms.

The statistical structure on a manifold M is predicated upon a special kind of coupling between the Riemannian metric g and a torsion-free affine connection ∇ on the TM, such that ∇g is totally symmetric, forming, by definition, a “Codazzi pair” t∇, gu. In this paper, we first investigate various transformations of affine connections, including additive translation (by an arbitrary (1,2)-tensor K), multiplicative perturbation (through an arbitrary invertible operator L on TM), and conjugation (through a non-degenerate two-form h). We then study the Codazzi coupling of ∇ with h and its coupling with L, and the link between these two couplings. We introduce, as special cases of K-translations, various transformations that generalize traditional projective and dual-projective transformations, and study their commutativity with L-perturbation and h-conjugation transformations. Our derivations allow affine connections to carry torsion, and we investigate conditions under which torsions are preserved by the various transformations mentioned above. While reproducing some known results regarding Codazzi transform, conformal-projective transformation, etc., we extend much of these geometric relations, and hence obtain new geometric insights, for the general case of a non-degenerate two-form h (instead of the symmetric g) and an affine connection with possibly non-vanishing torsion. Our systematic approach establishes a general setting for the study of Information Geometry based on transformations and coupling relations of affine connections.

For Laplacians defined by measures on a bounded domain in R^n, we prove analogs of the classical eigenvalue estimates for the standard Laplacian: lower bound of sums of eigenvalues by Li and Yau, and gaps of consecutive eigenvalues by Payne, Polya and Weinberger. This work is motivated by the study of spectral gaps for Laplacians on fractals.

For a self-similar measure in d-dimensional Euclidean space with overlaps but satisfies the so-called bounded measure type condition introduced by Tang and the authors, we set up a framework for deriving a closed formula for the Lq-spectrum of the measure for nonnegative q. The framework allows us to include iterated function systems that have different contraction ratios and those in higher dimension. For self-similar measures with overlaps, closed formulas for the Lq-spectrum have only been obtained earlier for measures satisfying Strichartz second-order identities. We illustrate how to use our results to prove the differentiability of the Lq-spectrum, obtain the multifractal dimension spectrum, and compute the Hausdorff dimension of the measure.