Optimization and Control · Cross-listed from cs.AI
An LLM-Explainable DRL Framework for Passenger-Directed Autonomous Driving
Ouided Braoui, Meriem Bouali and Nadir Farhi
Autonomous vehicles offer the potential for safer and more efficient mobility, yet public trust remains limited due to the lack of transparency in their decision-making. This work addresses this issue by combining deep reinforcement learning (DRL) for adaptive driving control with large
language model (LLM)-based explainability modules designed to communicate
agent behavior to passengers. DRL
agents were trained in simulation using a Dueling Double Deep Q-Network to follow distinct driving requests: fast, comfort, and stop. They demonstrated stable learning, safe compliance with traffic rules, and reliable switching between modes within a single trip. In parallel, LLM modules were introduced to interpret passenger requests, determine when explanations were needed, and generate concise, safety-oriented justifications. Results show that this framework, serving as a proof of concept for integrating RL decision-making and LLMs, balances safety, adaptability, and explainability, and is most effective when requests are delayed or overridden due to safety constraints.
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Analysis of PDEs
Uniform stabilization for relatively bounded perturbations of generators of semigroup
Shri Lal Raghudev Ram Singh, Piermarco Cannarsa and Roberto Guglielmi
In this paper, we study the robustness of exponential stability for
semigroups generated by linear operators under perturbations. Extending a classical result of Gibson's Stability
Theorem, we show that if the generator of an analytic exponentially stable
semigroup is perturbed by a class of relatively bounded operators satisfying certain assumptions, then exponential stability is preserved, provided the perturbed
semigroup is strongly stable. We also show that, for a restricted class of perturbations, the analyticity requirement can be relaxed to Gevrey regularity. Moreover, we present applications to uniformly
parabolic equations, degenerate/singular
parabolic equations, coupled
hyperbolic plate systems, and generalized coupled systems of Kirchhoff-Love plates and a membrane-like electric network.
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Functional Analysis
Extremal representations of functions of matrices and applications to multivariate prediction
Michael Frank, Lutz Klotz and Andreas Lasarow
Motivated by two seminal results of multivariate prediction theory by Helson and Lowdenslager and by Wiener and Masani we prove extremal representations of functions of
matrices and derive their prediction-theoretic consequences. We also sketch a way to obtain matricial inequalities from our results. The main goal of the paper is the computation of the infimum of a set of values of the form $tr(A \Delta A^*)$, where $\Delta$ is a given non-negative Hermitian $n \times n$
matrix and the choices for $A$ exhauste a certain set of $n \times n$
matrices. In particular, we focus on norm-bounded unit spheres with certain types of properties of
unitary invariance, what allows an application of the theory of majorization.
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Combinatorics
On the Duke–Erdős–Rödl Problem at the One-Third Threshold
Eric Li
Let $G$ be an $n$-vertex graph with $e(G)\ge n^2/k$. We prove a self-contained internal short-cycle core
theorem at the threshold $k\le n^{1/3}$: the graph $G$ contains a subgraph $H_6$ with $\Omega(n^2/k^3)$ edges in which every two distinct edges lie together on a cycle of length at most $6$ contained in $H_6$, and a subgraph $H_8$ with $\Omega(n^2/k^2)$ edges in which every two distinct edges lie together on a cycle of length at most $8$ contained in $H_8$. In density notation $\rho=e(G)/n^2$, this gives internal cores of sizes $\Omega(\rho^3n^2)$ and $\Omega(\rho^2n^2)$ throughout the range $\rho\ge n^{-1/3}$. The $C_{\le6}$ conclusion above is an edge-connected statement and does not impose the adjacent-edge $C_4$ condition appearing in the strongest Duke–Erdős–Rödl formulation. We also include two complementary results clarifying this distinction. First, under the ambient-witness convention, every graph with at least $n^2/k$ edges and $k=o(n^{1/2})$ contains $\Omega(n^2/k^3)$ selected edges whose pairs are witnessed by ambient cycles of length at most $6$, with adjacent pairs witnessed by ambient $C_4$'s. Second, under the standard internal strong $C_6$ convention, for every fixed $\beta\in[1/3,1/2)$ there is an infinite sequence of bipartite graphs $G$ with $n\to\infty$ and $e(G)=\Theta_\beta(n^{2-\beta})$ such that every internally strongly $C_6$-connected subgraph has only $O_\beta(\rho(G)^3n^2/(\log n)^2)$ edges. The obstruction is a random cyclic shift-lift of $K_{q,q}$, together with an occupancy estimate excluding large aligned two-covers.
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Mathematical Physics · Cross-listed from q-bio.CB
Quantifying the biophysical properties of stomatocytes in health and disease
Zhaojie Chai, Jianlu Zheng, He Li et al. (+2 more)
Hereditary stomatocytosis (HS) comprises red blood
cell (RBC) disorders characterized by cup-shaped erythrocytes that respond oppositely to splenectomy: curative in overhydrated HS (OHS) but potentially thrombogenic in dehydrated HS (DHS/xerocytosis). This paradox persists because RBC biomechanics is governed by partly independent parameters–shear modulus, bending
rigidity, surface-to-volume ratio (S/V), and cytoplasmic viscosity–that existing assays capture only piecemeal. Here we combine dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations with microfluidic imaging to construct a control discocyte and three stomatocyte models (ST-RBC1-3) at fixed membrane area and decreasing volume (109.7, 101.5, 89.8 fL), spanning the OHS-to-DHS range. Tracing this parameter set through five mechanically orthogonal assays, we find that interendothelial-slit (IES) traversal is geometry-dominated: overhydrated ST-RBC1 requires an order of magnitude higher critical pressure than healthy RBCs, whereas dehydrated ST-RBC3 passes freely. ST-RBC3 nonetheless suppresses membrane tank-treading and raises low-shear whole-blood viscosity by ~29% at physiological haematocrit, comparable to Gaucher-disease hyperviscosity. A funnel-obstacle chip amplifies these differences into a label-free centerline-offset signal predicted to separate all four RBC types (~4.5 standard deviations between extreme phenotypes). These results unite single-
cell mechanics, splenic filtration, and hemorheology in one framework, resolve the splenectomy paradox, and point toward microfluidic pre-operative risk stratification in HS.
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All authors Zhaojie Chai, Jianlu Zheng, He Li, Ming Dao, George Em Karniadakis
Algebraic Topology
The Hochschild Homology of Reedy Categories
Alexandra Ballow
We calculate the Hochschild homology of generalized Reedy categories, such as the simplex category, the category of finite sets, the category of finite-dimensional categories, and the PROP associated to an operad.
Numerical Analysis
An Efficient Solver for the Richards Equation for Variably Saturated Flows in Porous Media
Xuelong Gu and Qi Wang
We present a nonlinear multigrid solver for the Richards equation in variably saturated porous media with strongly nonlinear hydraulic conductivity and water-retention relationships. The governing equation is discretized using a second-order conservative finite-difference scheme in space and an implicit backward differentiation formula in time. The core component of the solver is a nonlinear Gauss–Seidel (NGS) smoother based on a triangular splitting of the
diffusion operator combined with diagonal stabilization. This construction yields a sequence of locally decoupled scalar nonlinear problems that can be solved efficiently and robustly using only a few Newton iterations. Under suitable monotonicity assumptions, we establish the convergence of the NGS iteration in the $L^\infty$ norm and derive explicit conditions on the stabilization parameters. Numerical experiments for
benchmark infiltration, drainage, and root-uptake problems demonstrate that the proposed NGS-based multigrid framework is both computationally efficient and robust.
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Optimization and Control · Cross-listed from cs.LG
PE-MHL: Physics-Encoded Modular Hybrid Layers for Scalable Learning of Complex Systems
Ismail Hassaballa and Mircea Lazar
Hybrid models that combine physics-based and data-driven components have shown strong potential for achieving accuracy and interpretability in control applications. While recent methods have made progress in incorporating physical consistency, challenges remain in scalability, robustness to noise, and control of model complexity. This paper proposes a Physics-Encoded Modular Hybrid Layer (PE-MHL) framework, in which a baseline physics-based model is incrementally refined through the addition of new sub-models, where each new component adds complexity while preserving what previous components have already learned. We establish a theoretical guarantee for this construction: with a least-squares initialization of each new sub-model, the training error is monotonically non-increasing in the number of sub-models and provably converges. Empirical evaluations on a nonlinear NARX
benchmark and the Quanser Aero 2 platform demonstrate that PE-MHL matches or outperforms its fully connected monolithic relaxation (over five times more parameters) in accuracy and generalization, while also providing more stable training dynamics and better preservation of underlying data structures.
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Statistics Theory
Local Sensitivity Under Transport Restrictions
Hongseok Namkoong
We quantify the value of structural knowledge, restrictions a modeler places on the world before seeing data. Our analytic workhorse is the local sensitivity of an estimand to distributional perturbations in the Otto-Wasserstein geometry: the largest first-order change in the estimand per unit displacement of probability mass (transport), equal to the dual norm of the spatial gradient of the efficient influence function. The modeler encodes structural knowledge by restricting the class of transports, and the resulting reduction in sensitivity is the value of their inductive bias. We illustrate by shedding light on a longstanding puzzle in causal inference where classical semiparametric efficiency bounds remain identical regardless of whether the propensity score is known, despite observed practical difficulties when it is unknown. Our approach characterizes how known propensities significantly reduce sensitivity to misspecification.
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Analysis of PDEs
Space-Time Duality of Diffusion via Subordination: General Theory and Relativistic Models
Cheng-Gang Li
The Cattaneo-Vernotte model and the relativistic Schrödinger operator represent two fundamental frameworks for the relativistic modifications of normal
diffusion, leading to the telegraph equation and a class of spatially nonlocal
diffusion equations, respectively. This paper investigates the intrinsic connection between these two relativistic
diffusion models. While it is well-established that spatially non-local
diffusion arises from subordinating normal
diffusion, we reveal a novel reciprocal mechanism: the normal
diffusion process can be recovered by subordinating the telegraph process via the corresponding inverse subordinator. Consequently, leveraging the duality between the subordinator and the inverse subordinator, we establish a distinct duality between the telegraph equation and the spatially nonlocal
diffusion equation. Furthermore, this specific duality, centered on normal
diffusion, is generalized to a broader class of space-time dual operator families anchored on $C_0$-
semigroups.
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Statistics Theory
Unbiased estimation of squared concentration in the Fisher-von Mises-Langevin distribution and the impossibility of unbiased concentration
Zain Jabbar, Yuqin Jiang and Andrey A. Popov
The estimation of concentration parameter in Fisher-von Mises-Langevin distribution is the directional statistics analogue of the estimation of the precision
matrix for the Gaussian distribution. In this work we show that unbiased estimation of this parameter is impossible. With this realization in hand, we provide an alternative parameterization of the Fisher-von Mises-Langevin distribution in terms of the squared concentration, which we term the intensity. We fruther show that unbiased estimation of thereof is possible, and provide (almost) unbiased
estimators thereof in terms of a partial sum U-statistic. We showcase our new
estimator on synthetic data, New York taxi trip data, and on spherical word
embeddings.
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Optimization and Control
Nonlocal Mean Field Schrödinger Bridge with Learned Interactions
Daisuke Inoue, Dante Kalise and Mathieu Laurière
The Schrödinger Bridge Problem connects an initial distribution to a terminal one along a minimum-energy
stochastic process. Its mean-field extension, the Mean-Field Schrödinger Bridge, governs interacting populations whose dynamics and costs depend on the collective distribution. When these interactions are nonlocal, their direct evaluation scales quadratically with the population size, making large ensembles intractable within FBSDE-based solvers. We replace these terms with neural surrogates in state and time, trained on empirical interaction values along sampled trajectories and embedded in a four-stage alternating scheme that updates the forward and backward potentials and the surrogates in turn, while preserving forward–backward consistency and the prescribed endpoint marginals. We derive Grönwall-type stability bounds quantifying how surrogate errors propagate to the generated trajectories under a small-gain condition. On crowd-
navigation and high-dimensional opinion-dynamics
benchmarks, the surrogates reproduce the trajectories obtained with exact evaluation at reduced training cost. The advantage is most significant when the interaction is a nonlinear functional of the measure, such as the normalized bounded-confidence drift, for which random-batch subsampling is biased and unstable whereas the learned surrogate remains accurate.
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Algebraic Topology
Left exact monoidal localizations from tidy maps
Mathieu Anel, Georg Biedermann, Eric Finster et al. (+1 more)
We put Goodwillie's calculus of functors and Weiss' orthogonal calculus in a unified framework. We do so in two ways. On the one hand, the relevant categories are all symmetric monoidal and controlled by their compact objects. We introduce the notion of tidy map as a means to generate symmetric monoidal localizations in this setting. These localizations are always left exact. Then we show that both the Goodwillie and Weiss towers are generated by such maps. On the other hand, the relevant categories are also topoi, for which there is a general theory of completion towers of left exact localizations. We had shown in a previous work that the Goodwillie tower is an instance a such a tower. We show here that the Weiss tower is a completion tower as well, and therefore that the general theory applies to orthogonal calculus.
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All authors Mathieu Anel, Georg Biedermann, Eric Finster, André Joyal
Numerical Analysis
An indefinite LOBPCG type of algorithm for detecting a definite Hermitian matrix pair
Marija Miloloža Pandur
A Hermitian
matrix pair $(A,B)$ is called definite if some real linear combination of the
matrices $A$ and $B$ is a positive definite
matrix. Detection of the definiteness is not straightforward. We propose a basic subspace
algorithm for detecting a large definite
matrix pair $(A,B)$ with indefinite $B$. The proposed subspace
algorithm is based on iterative testing of small projected Hermitian
matrix pairs formed by using subspaces of small dimensions. Furthermore, we propose a specialized
algorithm with parameter $m$, and its preconditioned variant. In the specialized
algorithm with $m=3$ we choose the subspaces like in the indefinite locally optimal block preconditioned conjugate gradient (LOBPCG) method. Numerical experiments demonstrate the efficiency of our specialized
algorithm, applied on medium-sized pairs, as well as, on large and banded pairs. Our
algorithm very quickly detects (in)definiteness; much faster than some other
algorithms.
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Algebraic Geometry
Transversal unfoldings of derived foliations
Maurício Corrêa
We study when a derived foliation along the fibres of a smooth morphism extends transversally to the total space. We classify strict unfoldings by basic Lie derivations, retaining the
automorphisms arising from central isotropy. We define an intrinsic space of unfoldings and prove its agreement with the strict classification when the relative cotangent complex is a vector bundle in degree zero. A counterexample shows that the strict construction is not invariant under equivalent presentations. For two-term cotangent complexes, we describe cotangent extensions and their integrability conditions, and obtain cohomological existence criteria for strict unfoldings in explicit families. On smooth representable leaf spaces, descended unfoldings correspond to integrable Ehresmann connections.
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Information Theory
An Effective Pauli-Channel Model for Passive-User Loop-Back QKD
Luis Adrián Lizama-Pérez
This work develops an effective channel model for distributed passive-user Loop-Back
quantum key distribution. In the intended key-establishment setting, the two passive users \(B_1\) and \(B_2\) are the legitimate lightweight parties that establish a shared secret key by using Alice as an active
quantum preparation-and-measurement infrastructure. A single active station prepares and measures BB84 states, while two remote users apply only local polarization rotations. We show that the passive-user pair can be externally encapsulated as an effective Loop-Back node whose observable action is a balanced mixture of conjugate-basis dephasings, equivalently represented as an anisotropic Pauli channel with identity, \(X\), and \(Z\) components and no \(Y\) component. This structure differs from isotropic depolarization and recovers the ideal conclusive-event probability \(P_{\mathrm{conc}}=1/4\). The model also clarifies why non-orthogonal intermediate states are necessary for passive-user security. This channel-level description characterizes Alice's observable statistics and provides a compact basis for subsequent analysis of passive-user Loop-Back QKD under realistic optical and
adversarial conditions.
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Probability
Properties of a Special Type of Filtration and its Martingale Criteria
Assylliya K. Zhunussova
This article investigates the structural properties of
stochastic processes relative to a generalized single jump filtration, extending the framework introduced by A.A. Gushchin (2020) to the case of a non-trivial initial $\sigma$-
algebra $\mathscr{H}$. By leveraging the general theory of processes and optional projection techniques, we establish fundamental measurability criteria for random variables and a complete characterization of stopping times and adapted processes. Furthermore, we derive comprehensive martingale and local martingale criteria, providing necessary and sufficient conditions for the preservation of the martingale property in this extended setting.
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Probability · Cross-listed from cs.SI
Structural properties of the implicit function defined by an integral self-consistency equation
Ivan Viakhirev
We study the integral equation $\int_0^m \eta\rho(\eta)/(C-\eta)\,d\eta = 1$ with $C>m$, where $\rho$ is a $C^1$ probability density on $[0,M]$ vanishing polynomially at $\eta=M$. Setting $\mathcal{I}^+(m) := \lim_{C \downarrow m}\int_0^m \eta\rho(\eta)/(C-\eta)\,d\eta$ and $\Omega := \{m \in (0,M) : \mathcal{I}^+(m) > 1\}$, the equation determines $C$ implicitly as a function of $m$ on $\Omega$, and our object of study is the dimensionless ratio $\beta(m) := C(m)/m$. Writing $h(\eta) := \eta\rho(\eta)$, our main
theorem establishes openness of $\Omega$, $C^1$-smoothness of $\beta$, a sign formula identifying $\beta'(m)$ with a positively-weighted integral of $dh/d\ln\eta$, transfer of monotonicity from $h$ to $\beta$, and existence of an interior critical point of $\beta$ when $h$ is unimodal and two technical hypotheses hold. Numerically, $\beta$ has a single critical point in seven log-concave test densities (mostly Beta-type), in support of a separate uniqueness
conjecture. A bimodal density that violates both unimodality and log-concavity exhibits three critical points; this shows that dropping the two hypotheses jointly admits multiple critical points, but does not separate their roles.
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Analysis of PDEs
Study via Approximate Symmetries of the Emergence of Secondary Flux in the Bevilacqua-Galeão Model
Yuri Bozhkov, Stylianos Dimas and Antônio J. Silva Neto
The Bevilacqua-Galeão Model of Anomalous
Diffusion introduces two fluxes: a primary flux that follows Fick's law of
diffusion, representing the fraction of particles undergoing classical
diffusion, and a secondary flux modeled by a fourth-order differential term, which accounts for retention phenomena. We investigate the “analytic emergence” of this secondary flux by treating the model as a (singular) perturbation of the heat equation, which describes the classical
diffusion. Rather than applying traditional perturbation methods, or a straightforward
Fourier transformation, we employ the powerful framework of enhanced modern group analysis to study this problem. Specifically, by utilizing approximate
symmetries we derive an analytic expression for the emergent secondary
diffusion as a perturbation of the classical
diffusion process, the approximate fundamental solution and the approximate solution of the related Cauchy problem.
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Complex Variables
On the fundamental solutions of two nonlocal parabolic equations related to logarithmic Laplacians
Bart Rosenzweig and Jonathan Stanfill
We answer in the affirmative a question posed by V. Maz'ya of whether one can continue as a meromorphic function of $t$ the series representation of the fundamental solution of a certain nonlocal
parabolic equation associated to a logarithmic
Laplacian on the circle, which arises in the study of boundary value problems associated to the ordinary
Laplacian on domains with thin cavities. The $a\ln(n) +O(1)$ growth of the
eigenvalues of the integral operator, together with explicit formulas for the eigenfunctions and the subleading asymptotic behavior of the
eigenvalues, allows us to show that the fundamental solution is reminiscent of a sum of shifted Riemann
zeta functions or polylogarithms, depending on the spatial variable. We show an analogous result for an operator related to a different logarithmic
Laplacian on the interval, whose structure is similar. Along the way we are led to prove and to
conjecture a number of curious identities involving Bell
polynomials and Bernoulli numbers related to the exponential of the digamma function which are of independent interest.
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Spectral Theory
Spectrum of the Maxwell Equations for a Flat Interface between Non-Homogeneous Dispersive Media in 2D and 3D
Tomáš Dohnal, Michael Plum, Karl M. Schmidt et al. (+1 more)
The present work concerns the time-harmonic Maxwell equations in two- and three-dimensional space, divided into two half-spaces by a flat interface. The two half-spaces are filled with media whose electric permittivity is frequency-dependent and varies as a function of the distance from the interface only; this dependence is assumed to satisfy a regularity condition in each half-space but may be discontinuous at the interface. No specific model for the frequency dependence is assumed. For the associated operator pencil, we characterise subsets of the resolvent set and separate subsets of the Weyl spectrum corresponding to radiation away from the interface and along the interface, respectively. The characterisation of the sets is via conditions on the fundamental solutions. If the media are periodic in the direction orthogonal to the interface, a more explicit description of these sets can be given in terms of Floquet theory of related Sturm-Liouville equations. These results generalise earlier work in one and two dimensions where the media were assumed to be homogeneous in each half-space.
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All authors Tomáš Dohnal, Michael Plum, Karl M. Schmidt, Ian Wood
Analysis of PDEs
Absence of local anomalous dissipation and local energy balance in 2D incompressible flows away from the boundary
Tobias Barker, Milton C. Lopes Filho and Helena J. Nussenzveig Lopes
For the 2D Navier-Stokes equations with no-slip boundary condition, we consider the issue of whether anomalous dissipation away from the boundary vanishes. In particular, we show that such vanishing occurs if $u^{\nu}$ is uniformily bounded in the Onsager supercritical space $L^{1+}_{t}L^{\infty}_{x,loc}$ with appropriate bounds on the initial conditions. Our method involves arguments from \cite{AD23} and \cite{CW23} involving localization via modulation, together with vorticity energy type estimates inspired by \cite{CFLS16} and estimates involving $L^2$-based structure functions inspired by \cite{DP25dissconc}. Next we show that the aforementioned setting produces convergence to an Euler solution with its large scale approximation satisfying a local energy balance equation. Notably, we do not assume any uniform-in-viscosity bounds on the pressure. The large scale approximation has been introduced in \cite{PGLR18} in the context of partial regularity of the 3D Navier-Stokes equations, yet to the best of our knowledge this is the first time it has been considered in the context of inviscid limits.
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