A common approach to reduce the linewidth of a laser is an increase of its resonator length. In large gas lasers, however, the frequency spacing between longitudinal modes of the resonator easily becomes significantly smaller than the Doppler-broadened width of the gain profile. As a consequence, the laser might operate on a multitude of modes simultaneously, or jump between modes. Such unstable operation cannot be tolerated in metrological or sensing applications, such as ring laser gyroscopes. Here, we propose and demonstrate a method to establish stable operation on a chosen mode index by optically steering the ring laser to a desired mode index through injection locking with an external laser. The injected mode reliably follows the external steering. Intra-cavity backscattering can even cause the counter-propagating, non-injected mode to follow the external steering as well.

We develop a heat kernel method to compute the one-loop effective action for a general class of nonlinear electrodynamic (NLED) theories in four dimensional Minkowski spacetime. Working in the background field formalism, we extract the logarithmically divergent part of the effective action, the so-called induced action, corresponding to the DeWitt $a_2$ coefficient of the heat kernel. In NLED, quantisation yields non-minimal differential operators, for which standard heat kernel techniques are not immediately applicable. Considering the weak-field regime, we calculate the $a_0$, $a_1$ and $a_2$ contributions to leading order in the background electromagnetic field strength. Finally, we consider conformal NLED theories and compute the $a_0$ contribution to all orders. For this class, we comment on the role of causality being necessary and sufficient for the convergence of the exact $a_1$ and $a_2$ contributions.

Extending a recent effective theory formulation for the dynamics of kinks in the sine-Gordon model [1], we propose an analogous effective description of $ϕ^4$ kinks. Three different reduced models based on the kink position, width and internal mode amplitude are introduced and compared systematically with the numerical solution of the equation with space- and time-dependent perturbations. In all cases considered, the model based on the kink position and width agrees the best with the full numerical solution. As long as the external driving frequency of the perturbation remains moderate, it captures with remarkable accuracy the intricate dynamical processes taking place in the system.

We study the power spectral density of time delay fluctuations in an interferometer as a potential low-energy quantum gravitational observable. We derive a general expression for the spectrum in terms of the Wightman function of linear metric perturbations, which we then apply to a variety of cases. We analyze the intrinsic graviton fluctuations in the vacuum, thermal, and squeezed states, as well as the fluctuations induced by the vacuum stress-energy of a massless scalar field. We find that the resulting spectra are free of ultraviolet divergences and that, while thermal and squeezed states provide a natural amplification mechanism, the spectra remain suppressed by the Planck scale.

Gravitational waves (GWs) in the $0.01\sim1$ Hz band encode unique signatures of the early universe and merging compact objects, but they are beyond the reach of existing observatories. Theoretical models suggest that the Moon could act as a resonant detector, but the unknown influence of its rugged surface and heterogeneous interior poses a challenge to the accurate modeling of its response. Here, we address this long-standing uncertainty by constructing the first high-resolution, two-dimensional model of the lunar GW response, more realistic than previous ones. We achieve this by combining high-fidelity spectral-element simulations with the analytical power of normal-mode perturbation theory, thereby resolving topographical effects down to 2 km grid spacing while maintaining the capacity to discern global free-oscillation patterns. This dual-methodology approach not only recovers the expected predominant quadrupole ($l=2$) oscillation mode, but also exposes a systematic signal amplification in thick-crust regions. This enhancement is traced by our normal-mode analysis to a mode-coupling process, in which the original quadrupolar oscillation induced by the passing GW distributes energy into a series of higher-order modes, the hybridized eigenmodes of a laterally heterogeneous Moon. In certain narrow frequency ranges, we observe up to tenfold amplification spanning into the deci-hertz band, highlighting the power of numerical simulations in resolving these structurally fine-tuned features for designing future detectors. Our work establishes the Moon as a resonant GW detector albeit its complex topographical structures, and the resulting amplification maps provide quantitative guide for the optimal landing site selection.

Distribution of the sum of independent identically distributed symmetric lattice vectors is approximated by the accompanying compound Poisson law and the second-order Hipp-type signed compound Poisson measure. Bergström -type asymptotic expansion is constructed. The accuracy of approximation is estimated in the total variation metric and, in many cases, is of the order $O(n^{-1})$.

The accuracy of one-shot $G_0W_0$ and Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE) calculations depends strongly on the underlying starting-point eigensystem, which is commonly obtained from a mean-field density-functional approximation. Range-separated hybrid (RSH) functionals provide a particularly effective starting point, however, conventional optimally tuned RSH procedures often require costly, system-specific, multi-step optimizations of the range-separation parameter $ω$. In this work, we show that a recently proposed effective tuning protocol [Singh \textit{et. al.}, Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 16, 32, 8198-8208, (2025)] for RSH functionals can serve as an efficient alternative for determining $ω$ used in $G_0W_0$ and BSE calculations. This simplified tuning scheme yields range-separation parameters that are effectively equivalent to those obtained from more elaborate tuning strategies, while avoiding their substantial computational overhead. The resulting tuned RSH eigensystems provide reliable starting points for many-body perturbation theory. In particular, one-shot $G_0W_0$ calculations based on effectively tuned RSH orbitals reproduce reference ionization potentials with high accuracy, while subsequent BSE calculations yield quantitatively reliable neutral excitation energies, optical absorption spectra, and excitonic properties for a diverse set of molecular systems and clusters. These results demonstrate that effective RSH tuning offers a practical and broadly applicable route to accurate quasiparticle and excited-state calculations, combining the accuracy of optimally tuned starting points with the low computational cost required for routine applications of $G_0W_0$ and BSE.

Recent developments in causal machine learning methods have made it easier to estimate flexible relationships between confounders, treatments and outcomes, making unconfoundedness assumptions in causal analysis more palatable. How successful are these approaches in recovering ground truth baselines? In this paper we analyze a new data sample including an experimental rollout of a new feature at a large technology company and a simultaneous sample of users who endogenously opted into the feature. We find that recovering ground truth causal effects is feasible -- but only with careful modeling choices. Our results build on the observational causal literature beginning with LaLonde (1986), offering best practices for more credible treatment effect estimation in modern, high-dimensional datasets.

This paper establishes convergence and steady-state properties for the signal bound disturbance attenuation regulator (SiDAR). Building on the finite horizon recursive solution developed in a companion paper, we introduce the steady-state SiDAR and derive its tractable linear matrix inequality (LMI) with $O(n^3)$ complexity. Systems are classified as degenerate or nondegenerate based on steady-state solution properties. For nondegenerate systems, the finite horizon solution converges to the steady-state solution for all states as the horizon approaches infinity. For degenerate systems, convergence holds in one region of the state space, while a turnpike arises in the complementary region. When convergence holds, the optimal multiplier and control gain are obtained directly from the LMI solution. Numerical examples illustrate convergence behavior and turnpike phenomena. Companion papers address the finite horizon SiDAR solution and the stage bound disturbance attenuation regulator (StDAR).

This paper develops a generalized finite horizon recursive solution to the discrete time signal bound disturbance attenuation regulator (SiDAR) for state feedback control. This problem addresses linear dynamical systems subject to signal bound disturbances, i.e., disturbance sequences whose squared signal two-norm is bounded by a fixed budget. The term generalized indicates that the results accommodate arbitrary initial states. By combining game theory and dynamic programming, we derive a recursive solution for the optimal state feedback policy valid for arbitrary initial states. The optimal policy is nonlinear in the state and requires solving a tractable convex scalar optimization for the Lagrange multiplier at each stage; the control is then explicit. For fixed disturbance budget $α$, the state space partitions into two distinct regions: $\mathcal{X}_L(α)$, where the optimal control policy is linear and coincides with the standard linear $H_{\infty}$ state feedback control, and $\mathcal{X}_{NL}(α)$, where the optimal control policy is nonlinear. We establish monotonicity and boundedness of the associated Riccati recursions and characterize the geometry of the solution regions. A numerical example illustrates the theoretical properties. This work provides a complete feedback solution to the finite horizon SiDAR for arbitrary initial states. Companion papers address the steady-state problem and convergence properties for the signal bound case, and the stage bound disturbance attenuation regulator (StDAR).

Decarbonizing the global energy supply requires more efficient heating and cooling systems. Model predictive control enhances the operation of cooling and heating systems but depends on accurate system models, often based on control volumes. We present an automated framework including time discretization to generate model predictive controllers for such models. To ensure scalability, a primal decomposition exploiting the model structure is applied. The approach is validated on an underground heating system with varying numbers of states, demonstrating the primal decomposition's advantage regarding scalability.

While traditional equity factor investing relies heavily on slow-moving fundamental accounting metrics, these models frequently suffer from factor crowding and miss real-time, sentiment-driven market dislocations. This study explores how institutional investors can leverage a high-dimensional library of 191 short-term, trading-based signals, originally developed for the retail-heavy Chinese A-share market, to enhance alpha generation within the highly institutionalized U.S. S&P 500 universe from 2002 to 2022. Utilizing a robust double-selection LASSO framework to control for 151 established fundamental factors, we isolate 17 distinct price-volume and microstructural signals that capture significant, non-redundant risk premiums. Our empirical evidence demonstrates that these fast trading signals capture universal behavioral dynamics that do not dilute over a monthly rebalancing horizon. Integrating these short-term behavioral footprints with slow fundamental data offers a powerful dual-horizon framework to mitigate model misspecification risk and enhance large-cap portfolio diversification.

Periodic potentials with flat bands in their spectra support strongly localized nonlinear excitations. Although a perfectly flat band cannot exist in a continuous system, a spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensate loaded in a Zeeman lattice can realize the quasi-flat lowest band with an extremely narrow bandwidth. In such a quasi flat band, half vortex solitons become confined within a single lattice cell, enabling the formation of arrays of coupled half vortex solitons arranged of various spatial geometries. In this work, we study the existence and stability of these lattices within the framework of the two-component Gross-Pitaevskii equation. We demonstrate that, near the quasi-flat band, half-vortex solitons and their arrays can be excited with a nearly negligible number of atoms and are constrained by their local symmetries, which are isomorphic to a dihedral group of order 8. This allows observation of the respective field patterns in the nearly linear regime where they exhibit enhanced stability. The constructed lattices may have diverse geometric profiles, and in particular create a composite super-half-vortex soliton with nonlinear symmetry breaking.

The computational design of heteroatom-doped organic dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) remains challenging, as predictive methods must accurately describe long-range charge-transfer (CT) excitations while remaining computationally efficient for systematic materials screening. In this work, we investigate the electronic structure and excited-state properties using the range-separated hybrid functional LC-$ω$PBE in conjunction with linear-response time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) within the Tamm-Dancoff approximation (TDA). We employ a simplified, physically motivated, effective tuning protocol ($ω_{eff}$) to enable the rapid and reliable screening of electronic properties of organic dyes. Charge-transfer excitation energies and frontier orbital alignment the key factors governing light absorption and electron injection in DSSCs are analyzed through targeted heteroatom (N, O, and B) incorporation into donor-$π$-acceptor (D-$π$-A) organic dyes. A library of 27 mono-, di-, and tri-doped prototypical organic dyes is designed based on a carbazole donor and a cyanoacrylic acid acceptor through targeted doping at three positions of the $π$-bridge or linker. Distinct design trends emerge: electron-rich nitrogen and oxygen dopants increase the HOMO-LUMO gap and blue-shift CT excitations, with nitrogen exhibiting the strongest effect, whereas electron-deficient boron substitution narrows the gap and induces pronounced red shifts. Notably, the BBN-doped dye exhibits the smallest gap and lowest excitation energy, highlighting boron-rich motifs as promising candidates for enhanced solar light harvesting. Overall, this study establishes transferable heteroatom-doping guidelines and introduces an efficient, reliable, and cost-effective tuned DFT-TDDFT framework for high-throughput computational discovery and optimization of DSSC sensitizers.

We study how the grand-canonical density matrix arises in macroscopic quantum systems. ``Canonical typicality'' is the known statement that for a typical wave function $Ψ$ from a micro-canonical energy shell of a quantum system $S$ weakly coupled to a large but finite quantum system $B$, the reduced density matrix $\hatρ^S_Ψ=\mathrm{tr}^B |Ψ\rangle\langle Ψ|$ is approximately equal to the canonical density matrix $\hatρ_\mathrm{can}=Z^{-1}_\mathrm{can} \exp(-β\hat{H}^S)$. Here, we discuss the analogous statement and related questions for the \emph{grand-canonical} density matrix $\hatρ_\mathrm{gc}=Z^{-1}_\mathrm{gc} \exp(-β(\hat{H}^S-μ_1 \hat{N}_{1}^S-\ldots-μ_r\hat{N}_{r}^S))$ with $\hat{N}_{i}^S$ the number operator for molecules of type $i$ in the system $S$. This includes (i) the case of chemical reactions (which requires some novel considerations) and (ii) that of systems $S$ defined by a spatial region which particles may enter or leave. It includes statements about how $\hatρ_\mathrm{gc}$ arises from the density matrix of the appropriate (generalized micro-canonical) Hilbert subspace $\mathscr{H}_\mathrm{gmc} \subset \mathscr{H}^S \otimes \mathscr{H}^B$ (defined by a micro-canonical interval of total energy and suitable particle number sectors) or from typical $Ψ$ in $\mathscr{H}_\mathrm{gmc}$, as well as statements about the distribution of the (conditional) wave function $ψ^S$ of $S$, which turns out to be a so-called GAP or Scrooge measure. That is, we discuss the foundation and justification of both the density matrix and the distribution of the wave function in the grand-canonical case. To this end (particularly for the chemical reactions), we also need to extend these considerations to the so-called generalized Gibbs ensembles, which apply to systems for which some macroscopic observables are conserved.

The Euler buckling of rods is a long-studied mechanical instability, and it remains relevant to this day, as the constituent components in many biological and physical systems are linear polymers, such as microtubules or carbon nanotubes. At finite temperature, if a polymer is shorter than its persistence length, the polymer is semiflexible, and its elasticity remains rod-like. But polymers can also stretch due to their finite extensibility, which can couple to energetically cheap bending deformations in nonlinear ways when a load is applied to the system. We show how the interplay between thermal fluctuations and nonlinear elasticity dramatically modifies the Euler buckling instability for compressed semiflexible polymers in a fixed strain ensemble. We identify a Ginzburg-like length scale beyond which thermally excited undulations lead to a softened Young's modulus, while the polymer nevertheless remains semiflexible. Both perturbative calculations and numerical Monte Carlo simulations suggest a qualitative change in several scaling properties of the buckling transition. The critical compressional strain for thermal buckling now increases with system size, in contrast to athermal buckling, where it decreases with system size. Renormalization group calculations confirm this picture, and also show that thermal buckling is controlled by a new fixed point with different critical exponents compared to classical Euler buckling.

Always dealing with an arbitrary field we consider the variety $(k^{n\times n})^{p}$ under the action of $GL_{n}$ by simultaneous similarity. We define discrete and continuous invariants which completely determine the orbits. The discrete invariants induce a disjoint decomposition of the variety into finitely many locally closed $GL_{n}$-stable subsets and for each of these we construct finitely many invariant morphisms to $k$ separating the orbits. The complicated action of $GL_{n}$ by similarity is reduced to left multiplication of a product of $GL_{l_{i}}$'s on a product of $k^{l_{i}\times m_{i}}$'s. An analogous result holds for the left-right action of $GL_{m}\times GL_{n}$ on $(k^{m\times n })^{p}$ and more generally for all varieties of finite dimensional modules over some finitely generated algebra.

We construct and validate a set of multi-purpose mock galaxy catalogs designed to capture, to different degrees of accuracy, the main characteristics of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope survey. These catalogs provide a foundation for void statistics and various CMB cross-correlation analyses. Our approach differs from traditional halo occupation or abundance matching methods by directly translating a reference mock catalog -- containing basic properties of the host halos -- into a new simulation (in our case Agora). This technique, which we call analog matching, assigns a halo counterpart in the new simulation to each reference galaxy through a nearest-neighbor search in a multi-dimensional parameter space. This space can include halo mass, environmental measures and other galaxy-specific attributes. By varying the composition of this parameter vector, we can generate catalogs of differing complexity and test how galaxy-halo prescriptions influence LSS statistics and CMB-related observables. We find that analog matching based on halo mass alone, or halo mass and galaxy-type indicators, successfully reproduces the expected Roman emission-line galaxy statistics. We also show that reproducing two-dimensional galaxy clustering does not guarantee consistent void properties. Our results highlight the importance of matching void statistics for improved mock accuracy, and demonstrate that measuring voids provides independent and sensitive constraints on galaxy-halo connections beyond the matter power spectrum. An important by-product of our setup is that it is fully general and can be applied to any combination of simulation and reference catalog, provided that the desired parameter space for both is specified. The resulting Roman-Agora mock catalogs offer a versatile resource for LSS x CMB studies and a benchmark for assessing the impact of mock accuracy on cosmological observables.

One explanation of the thermalization of an isolated quantum system is the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, which posits that all energy eigenstates are thermal. Based on this idea, we use dynamical typicality to predict the thermal state of ultracold Rb atoms exchanging energy via long-range dipole-dipole interactions. In a magneto-optical trap, we excite the atoms to the center of a manifold of nearly harmonically spaced clusters of Stark energy levels and then allow them to equilibrate. Comparing the equilibrium state to our thermal prediction across a range of densities, we find that the atoms generally fail to thermalize, though they approach the thermal state at the highest tested density.

We consider a one-dimensional mixture of bosons and spinless fermions with contact interactions. In this system, the elementary excitations at low energies are described by four linearly dispersing modes characterized by two excitation velocities. Here we study the velocities in a system with equal interaction strengths and equal masses of bosons and fermions. The resulting model is integrable and admits an exact Bethe-ansatz solution. We analyze it and analytically derive various exact results, which include the Drude weight matrix. We show that the excitation velocities can be calculated from the knowledge of the matrices of compressibility and the Drude weights, as their squares are the eigenvalues of the product of the two matrices. The elements of the Drude weight matrix obey certain sum rules as a consequence of Galilean invariance. Our results are consistent with the presence of a momentum-momentum coupling term between the two subsystems of bosons and fermions in the effective low-energy Hamiltonian. The analytical method developed in the present study can be extended to other models that possess a nested Bethe-ansatz structure.

Existing dynamics prediction frameworks for transient stability analysis (TSA) fail to achieve multi-scenario "universality": the inherent ability of a single, pre-trained architecture to generalize across diverse operating conditions, unseen faults, and heterogeneous systems. To address this, this paper proposes Uni-TSA, a pre-trained generative Transformer-enabled universal framework that models multivariate transient dynamics prediction as a univariate generative task with three key innovations: First, a novel data processing pipeline featuring channel independence decomposition to resolve dimensional heterogeneity, sample-wise normalization to eliminate separate stable/unstable pipelines, and temporal patching for efficient long-sequence modeling; Second, a parameter-efficient freeze-and-finetune strategy that augments the pre-trained generative Transformer backbone with dedicated input embedding and output projection layers while freezing core transformer blocks to preserve generic feature extraction capabilities; Third, a two-stage fine-tuning scheme that combines teacher forcing, which feeds the model ground-truth data during initial training, with scheduled sampling, which gradually shifts to leveraging model-generated predictions, to mitigate cumulative errors in long-horizon iterative prediction. Comprehensive testing demonstrates the framework's universality, as Uni-TSA trained solely on the New England 39-bus system achieves zero-shot generalization to mixed stability conditions and unseen faults, and matches expert performance on the Iceland 189-bus system with only 5% fine-tuning data. Additional cross-system experiments on the IEEE 68-bus and IEEE 118-bus systems, together with stability metrics and PEBS comparison, further confirm Uni-TSA's strong zero-shot transferability and data-efficient adaptation.

Let $\mathbb F_q$ be the finite field of $q$ elements having characteristic $p$, and denote by $\mathbb K_\infty=\mathbb F_q((1/t))$ the field of formal Laurent series in $1/t$. We consider the equidistribution in $\mathbb T=\mathbb K_\infty/\mathbb F_q[t]$ of the values of polynomials $f(u)\in \mathbb K_\infty [u]$ as $u$ varies over $\mathbb F_q[t]$. Let $\mathcal K$ be a finite set of positive integers, and suppose that $α_r\in \mathbb K_\infty$ for $r\in \mathcal K\cup \{0\}$. We show that the polynomial $\sum_{r\in \mathcal K\cup\{0\}}α_ru^r$ is equidistributed in $\mathbb T$ whenever $α_k$ is irrational for some $k\in \mathcal K$ satisfying $p\nmid k$, and also $p^vk\not\in \mathcal K$ for any positive integer $v$. This conclusion resolves in full a conjecture made jointly by the third, fourth and fifth authors.

ISO 15118, the leading standard for DC fast charging in Europe, includes a plug-and-charge mechanism that allows electric vehicles to handle payment automatically via contract certificates. We present a novel relay attack against this mechanism: an attacker builds a fake charging station, plugs it into a victim's vehicle, and relays the cryptographic authentication to a real charging station - charging the attacker's vehicle while billing the victim. The attack exploits the absence of station-identifying information in the plug-and-charge signature, combined with weaknesses in how ISO 15118 handles TLS certificates. We provide a proof-of-concept implementation demonstrating the full attack chain and discuss possible mitigations and alternatives. As plug-and-charge adoption grows, addressing this vulnerability is critical before it becomes widely exploitable.

We formulate the quantum version of non-projectable Hořava gravity as a Lagrangian theory with a path integral in the configuration space with an ultra-local in time, but non-local in space, field-dependent measure. Using auxiliary fields, we cast the measure into a local form satisfying several bosonic and fermionic symmetries. We perform an explicit one-loop computation in the theory in $(2+1)$ dimensions, using for the case study the divergent part of the action on a background with non-trivial shift vector; the background spatial metric is taken to be flat and the background lapse function is set to 1. No truncations are assumed at the level of perturbations, for which we develop a diagrammatic technique and a version of the heat-kernel method. We isolate dangerous linear-in-frequency divergences in the two-point function of the shift, which can lead to spatial non-localities, and explicitly verify their cancellation. This leaves a fully local expression for the divergent part of the quadratic effective action, from which we extract the beta functions for the Newton constant and the essential coupling $λ$ in the kinetic term of the metric. We formulate the questions that need to be addressed to prove perturbative renormalizability of the non-projectable Hořava gravity.

The ATLAS collaboration has recently performed a vast scan of the phenomenological Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (pMSSM) with a focus on the electroweak-ino sector, and analysed how their Run 2 searches for electroweak production of supersymmetric (SUSY) particles constrain this dataset. All the SLHA files from the scan as well as the constraints from the eight individual searches considered by ATLAS were made publicly available. We use this material to study how well the ATLAS constraints can be reproduced with SModelS v3.0. Moreover, we explore how the picture changes when also including CMS results, and what can be gained by the statistical combination of analyses. Finally, we discuss the part of parameter space with light electroweak-inos that remains valid despite the stringent LHC limits. Our results underscore the need of a broad, multifaceted approach for maximising sensitivity and closing loopholes in the extensive SUSY parameter space.

Next-generation communication and localization systems increasingly rely on extremely large-scale arrays (XL-arrays), which promise unprecedented spatial resolution and new functionalities. These gains arise from their inherent operation in the near field (NF) regime, where the spherical nature of the wavefront can no longer be ignored; consequently, characterizing the ambiguity function -- which amounts to the matched beam pattern -- is considerably more challenging. Implementing very wide apertures with half-wavelength element spacing is costly and complex. This motivates thinning the array (removing elements), which introduces intricate aliasing structures, i.e., grating lobes. Whereas prior work has addressed this challenge using approximations tailored to specific array geometries, this paper develops a general framework that reveals the fundamental origins and geometric behavior of grating lobes in near-field ambiguity functions. Using a local spatial-frequency analysis of steering signals, we derive a systematic methodology to model NF grating lobes as aliasing artifacts, quantifying their structure on the AF, and providing design guidelines for XL-arrays that operate within aliasing-safe regions. We further connect our framework to established far-field principles. Finally, we demonstrate the practical value of the approach by deriving closed-form expressions for aliasing-free regions in canonical uniform linear arrays and uniform circular arrays.

So far a major source of uncertainty in the study of heavy-ion collisions arises from the early time dynamics which includes initial state and pre-equilibrium dynamics. The state-of-the-art framework, KoMPoST, employs non-equilibrium Green's functions to propagate the initial energy-momentum tensor to the hydrodynamic phase, yet currently only treats transverse plane dynamics under boost-invariant conditions. In this work, we extend KoMPoST to include non-boost-invariant responses to initial conditions, essential for accurately capturing the longitudinal structures observed in heavy-ion collisions. Non-boost-invariant fluctuations on top of a homogeneous background are evolved using (3+1)D response functions calculated in kinetic theory. To assess kinetic theory's transition towards hydrodynamic evolution, we systematically compare the out-of-equilibrium shear-stress tensor from KoMPoST-3D with estimates based on Navier-Stokes hydrodynamics. Subsequently, a comprehensive (3+1)D framework, McDIPPER+KoMPoST-3D+CLVisc+SMASH, is utilized to simulate the complete spacetime evolution of heavy-ion collisions. The sensitivity of key observables, including longitudinal structure of anisotropic flow, to variations in the hydrodynamic initialization time is thoroughly investigated.

Road network data provides rich information about cities, but processing worldwide OpenStreetMap (OSM) data is computationally intensive, and the resulting graphs are often difficult to unify for benchmarking downstream tasks. Existing graph learning benchmarks fail to capture the billion-scale and unique topological properties of real-world road networks, leaving model scalability underexplored. To close this gap, we process OSM data with distributed cloud computing using 5,000 cores and release \textbf{OSM+}, a structured worldwide 1-billion-vertex road network graph dataset designed for high accessibility and usability. OSM+ is open source and globally downloadable, providing an open-box graph structure and an easy spatial query interface; the evaluated release is a fixed snapshot for reproducibility, with a versioned update plan for future releases. We demonstrate the utility of OSM+ through three illustrative use cases: city boundary detection, traffic prediction, and traffic policy control. For traffic prediction, we construct a new 31-city benchmark by processing traffic data and combining it with OSM+, enabling broader spatial coverage and more comprehensive evaluation than commonly used datasets, while scaling from hundreds of road network intersections to thousands. For traffic policy control, we release a new six-city dataset at a much larger scale, introducing challenges for thousand-scale multi-agent coordination. We also provide data processing tools for integrating multimodal spatial-temporal data with OSM+ for geospatial foundation model training, thereby expediting the discovery of compelling scientific insights.

This paper presents the E-Rocket, an electric-powered, low-cost rocket prototype for validation of Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) algorithms based on Thrust Vector Control (TVC). Relying on commercially available components and 3D printed parts, a pair of contra-rotating DC brushless motors is assembled on a servo-actuated gimbal mechanism that provides thrust vectoring capability. A custom avionics hardware and software stack is developed considering a dual computer setup which leverages the capabilities of the PX4 autopilot and the modularity of ROS 2 to accommodate for tailored GNC algorithms. The platform is validated in an indoor motion-capture arena using a baseline PID-based trajectory tracking controller. Results demonstrate accurate trajectory tracking and confirm the suitability of the E-Rocket as a versatile testbed for rocket GNC algorithms.

Inspired by contagion models of social belief formation, we develop an epistemically-informed modeling framework, SIS-Vo, in which vaccine-related information propagates on a signed opinion network. Our model allows for heterogeneous treatment effects of policy messages across subpopulations through demographic-specific responses. We derive fixed-point characterizations of the healthy (disease-free) and endemic equilibria of this model, and obtain conditions for local stability of the healthy state in terms of the contact network and opinion-dependent vaccination capacities. Using numerical simulations, we illustrate how suitably targeted policy interventions, acting through opinion dynamics, can stabilize the epidemic process by moving the system towards the healthy regime. The SIS-Vo framework thus provides a natural basis for control-theoretic analysis of vaccination policies that remain robust even when misinformation targets specific subgroups.