Broadcast networks allow one to model networks of identical nodes communicating through message broadcasts. Their parameterized verification aims at proving a property holds for any number of nodes, ...under any communication topology, and on all possible executions. We focus on the coverability problem which dually asks whether there exists an execution that visits a configuration exhibiting some given state of the broadcast protocol. Coverability is known to be undecidable for static networks, i.e. when the number of nodes and communication topology is fixed along executions. In contrast, it is decidable in PTIME when the communication topology may change arbitrarily along executions, that is for reconfigurable networks. Surprisingly, no lower nor upper bounds on the minimal number of nodes, or the minimal length of covering execution in reconfigurable networks, appear in the literature. In this paper we show tight bounds for cutoff and length, which happen to be linear and quadratic, respectively, in the number of states of the protocol. We also introduce an intermediary model with static communication topology and non-deterministic message losses upon sending. We show that the same tight bounds apply to lossy networks, although, reconfigurable executions may be linearly more succinct than lossy executions. Finally, we show NP-completeness for the natural optimisation problem associated with the cutoff.
We explore the prospect of constraining light mediators at the next generation direct detection dark matter detectors through coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE\(\nu\)NS) and elastic ...neutrino-electron scattering (E\(\nu\)ES) measurements. Taking into account various details like the quenching factor corrections, atomic binding effects, realistic backgrounds, detection efficiency, energy resolution etc., we consider two representative scenarios regarding detector specifications. For both scenarios, we obtain the model-independent projected sensitivities for all possible Lorentz-invariant interactions, namely scalar (\(S\)), pseudoscalar (\(P\)), vector (\(V\)), axial vector (\(A\)) and tensor (\(T\)). For the case of vector interactions, we also focus on two concrete examples: the well-known \(U(1)_{B-L}\) and \(U(1)_{L_\mu - L_\tau}\) gauge symmetries. For all interaction channels \(X=\{S,P,V,A,T\}\), our results imply that the upcoming dark matter detectors have the potential to place competitive constraints, improved by about 1 order of magnitude compared to existing ones from dedicated CE\(\nu\)NS experiments, XENON1T, beam dump experiments and collider probes.
Concurrent games with a fixed number of agents have been thoroughly studied, with various solution concepts and objectives for the agents. In this paper, we consider concurrent games with an ...arbitrary number of agents, and study the problem of synthesizing a coalition strategy to achieve a global safety objective. The problem is non-trivial since the agents do not know a priori how many they are when they start the game. We prove that the existence of a safe arbitrary-large coalition strategy for safety objectives is a PSPACE-hard problem that can be decided in exponential space.
We introduce two-player games which build words over infinite alphabets, and we study the problem of checking the existence of winning strategies. These games are played by two players, who take ...turns in choosing valuations for variables ranging over an infinite data domain, thus generating multi-attributed data words. The winner of the game is specified by formulas in the Logic of Repeating Values, which can reason about repetitions of data values in infinite data words. We prove that it is undecidable to check if one of the players has a winning strategy, even in very restrictive settings. However, we prove that if one of the players is restricted to choose valuations ranging over the Boolean domain, the games are effectively equivalent to single-sided games on vector addition systems with states (in which one of the players can change control states but cannot change counter values), known to be decidable and effectively equivalent to energy games. Previous works have shown that the satisfiability problem for various variants of the logic of repeating values is equivalent to the reachability and coverability problems in vector addition systems. Our results raise this connection to the level of games, augmenting further the associations between logics on data words and counter systems.
We consider lexicographic bi-objective problems on Markov Decision Processes (MDPs), where we optimize one objective while guaranteeing optimality of another. We propose a two-stage technique for ...solving such problems when the objectives are related (in a way that we formalize). We instantiate our technique for two natural pairs of objectives: minimizing the (conditional) expected number of steps to a target while guaranteeing the optimal probability of reaching it; and maximizing the (conditional) expected average reward while guaranteeing an optimal probability of staying safe (w.r.t. some safe set of states). For the first combination of objectives, which covers the classical frozen lake environment from reinforcement learning, we also report on experiments performed using a prototype implementation of our algorithm and compare it with what can be obtained from state-of-the-art probabilistic model checkers solving optimal reachability.
Next generation direct dark matter detection experiments are favorable facilities to probe neutrino properties and light mediators beyond the Standard Model. We explore the implications of the recent ...data reported by LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) and XENONnT collaborations on electromagnetic neutrino interactions and neutrino generalized interactions (NGIs). We show that XENONnT places the most stringent upper limits on the effective and transition neutrino magnetic moment (of the order of few \(\times 10^{-12}~\mu_B\)) as well as stringent constraints to neutrino millicharge (of the order of \(\sim 10^{-13}~e\))--competitive to LZ--and improved by about one order of magnitude in comparison to existing constraints coming from Borexino and TEXONO. We furthermore explore the XENONnT and LZ sensitivities to simplified models with light NGIs and find improved constraints in comparison to those extracted from Borexino-Phase II data.
Prompted by the recent Dresden-II reactor data we examine its implications for the determination of the weak mixing angle, paying attention to the effect of the quenching function. We also determine ...the resulting constraints on the unitarity of the neutrino mixing matrix, as well as on the most general type of nonstandard neutral-current neutrino interactions.
Developing an automatic signature verification system is challenging and demands a large number of training samples. This is why synthetic handwriting generation is an emerging topic in document ...image analysis. Some handwriting synthesizers use the motor equivalence model, the well-established hypothesis from neuroscience, which analyses how a human being accomplishes movement. Specifically, a motor equivalence model divides human actions into two steps: 1) the effector independent step at cognitive level and 2) the effector dependent step at motor level. In fact, recent work reports the successful application to Western scripts of a handwriting synthesizer, based on this theory. This paper aims to adapt this scheme for the generation of synthetic signatures in two Indic scripts, Bengali (Bangla), and Devanagari (Hindi). For this purpose, we use two different online and offline databases for both Bengali and Devanagari signatures. This paper reports an effective synthesizer for static and dynamic signatures written in Devanagari or Bengali scripts. We obtain promising results with artificially generated signatures in terms of appearance and performance when we compare the results with those for real signatures.
Abstract We describe the clinical features, investigations and outcome of 4 adolescents aged 13, 16, 17 and 19 years, with fixed dystonia. The diagnosis was made within 6 months of the onset of ...symptoms. One patient had an identifiable traumatic precipitant. All the affected extremities had pain, sudomotor and vascular changes which were consistent with complex regional pain syndrome. The extremities affected by dystonia were the foot and the hand. The dystonia spread to affect other extremities in one patient. One patient had hemifacial spasm. Examination of the central and peripheral nervous system and allied investigations failed to reveal an organic cause. Common genetic causes for dystonia were excluded. The response to physical treatments for the affected extremities, such as Botulinum Toxin and surgery was poor. In all our cases there were significant psychological and psychiatric factors. Three patients fully met the criteria for psychogenic dystonia and responded well to psychological intervention. Fixed dystonia in adolescents is an uncommon disorder of unknown aetiology, usually presenting in girls, which can be very disabling and difficult to treat. The affected parts of the body are usually painful and show vascular changes. The condition is allied to CRPS. Treatment with multidisciplinary approach including psychological measures and physiotherapy is more likely to be successful and may prevent unnecessary physical measures.