### New observations on cohomology rings of Reeb spaces of explicit fold maps and manifolds admitting these maps. (arXiv:1911.09164v1 [math.KT])

As a branch of algebraic and differential topology of manifolds, the theory of {\it Morse} functions and their higher dimensional versions or {\it fold} maps and its application to algebraic and differential topology of manifolds is fundamental, important and interesting. This paper is on explicit construction of fold maps and homology groups and cohomology rings…

### Morse index, Betti numbers and singular set of bounded area minimal hypersurfaces. (arXiv:1911.09166v1 [math.DG])

We introduce a combinatorial argument to study closed minimal hypersurfaces of bounded area and high Morse index. Let $(M^{n+1},g)$ be a closed Riemannian manifold and $\Sigma\subset M$ be a closed embedded minimal hypersurface with area at most $A>0$ and with a singular set of Hausdorff dimension at most $n-7$. We show the following bounds: there…

### Event Detection in Noisy Streaming Data with Combination of Corroborative and Probabilistic Sources. (arXiv:1911.09281v1 [cs.LG])

Global physical event detection has traditionally relied on dense coverage of physical sensors around the world; while this is an expensive undertaking, there have not been alternatives until recently. The ubiquity of social networks and human sensors in the field provides a tremendous amount of real-time, live data about true physical events from around the…

### Nonlinear Covariance Control via Differential Dynamic Programming. (arXiv:1911.09283v1 [eess.SY])

We consider covariance control problems for nonlinear stochastic systems. Our objective is to find an optimal control strategy to steer the state from an initial distribution to a terminal one with specified mean and covariance. This problem is considerably more complicated than previous studies on covariance control for linear systems. We leverage a widely used…

### A Pre-Allocation Design for Cost Minimization and Delay Constraint in Vehicular Offloading System. (arXiv:1911.09316v1 [eess.SY])

To accommodate exponentially increasing traffic demands of vehicle-based applications, operators are utilizing offloading as a promising technique to improve quality of service (QoS), which gives rise to the application of Mobile Edge Computing (MEC). While the conventional offloading paradigms focus on delay and energy tradeoff, they either fail to find efficient models to represent delay,…

### Polylogarithmic Approximation Algorithm for k-Connected Directed Steiner Tree on Quasi-Bipartite Graphs. (arXiv:1911.09150v1 [cs.DS])

In the k-Connected Directed Steiner Tree problem (k-DST), we are given a directed graph G=(V, E) with edge (or vertex) costs, a root vertex r, a set of q terminals T, and a connectivity requirement k>0; the goal is to find a minimum-cost subgraph H of G such that H has k internally disjoint paths…

### Governance of Social Welfare in Networked Markets. (arXiv:1911.09152v1 [cs.GT])

This paper aims to investigate how a central authority (e.g. a government) can increase social welfare in a network of markets and firms. In these networks, modeled using a bipartite graph, firms compete with each other \textit{\`a la} Cournot. Each firm can supply homogeneous goods in markets which it has access to. The central authority…

### Gradient-based Optimization for Bayesian Preference Elicitation. (arXiv:1911.09153v1 [cs.AI])

Effective techniques for eliciting user preferences have taken on added importance as recommender systems (RSs) become increasingly interactive and conversational. A common and conceptually appealing Bayesian criterion for selecting queries is expected value of information (EVOI). Unfortunately, it is computationally prohibitive to construct queries with maximum EVOI in RSs with large item spaces. We tackle…

### The politics of deceptive borders: ‘biomarkers of deceit’ and the case of iBorderCtrl. (arXiv:1911.09156v1 [cs.CY])

This paper critically examines a recently developed proposal for a border control system called iBorderCtrl, designed to detect deception based on facial recognition technology and the measurement of micro-expressions, termed ‘biomarkers of deceit’. Funded under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, we situate our analysis in the wider political economy of ’emotional AI’ and the…

### A Tale of Two-Timescale Reinforcement Learning with the Tightest Finite-Time Bound. (arXiv:1911.09157v1 [cs.LG])

Policy evaluation in reinforcement learning is often conducted using two-timescale stochastic approximation, which results in various gradient temporal difference methods such as GTD(0), GTD2, and TDC. Here, we provide convergence rate bounds for this suite of algorithms. Algorithms such as these have two iterates, $\theta_n$ and $w_n,$ which are updated using two distinct stepsize sequences,…