Scaling Monte-Carlo-Based Inference on Antibody and TCR Repertoires.

Previously, it has been shown that maximum-entropy models of immune-repertoire sequence can be used to determine a person's vaccination status. However, this approach has the drawback of requiring a computationally intensive method to compute each model's partition function (Z), the normalization constant required for calculating the probability that the model will generate a given sequence. Specifically, the method required generating approximately 1010 sequences via Monte-Carlo simulations for each model. This is impractical for large numbers of models. Here we propose an alternative method that requires estimating Z this way for only a few models: it then uses these expensive estimates to estimate Z more efficiently for the remaining models. We demonstrate that this new method enables the generation of accurate estimates for 27 models using only three expensive estimates, thereby reducing the computational cost by an order of magnitude. Importantly, this gain in efficiency is achieved with only minimal impact on classification accuracy. Thus, this new method enables larger-scale investigations in computational immunology and represents a useful contribution to energy-based modeling more generally.

Precision measurement of the hydrogen 1S-2S frequency via a 920-km fiber link.

We have measured the frequency of the extremely narrow 1S-2S two-photon transition in atomic hydrogen using a remote cesium fountain clock with the help of a 920 km stabilized optical fiber. With an improved detection method we obtain f(1S-2S)=2466 061 413 187 018 (11) Hz with a relative uncertainty of 4.5×10(-15), confirming our previous measurement obtained with a local cesium clock [C. G. Parthey et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 203001 (2011)]. Combining these results with older measurements, we constrain the linear combinations of Lorentz boost symmetry violation parameters c((TX))=(3.1±1.9)×10(-11) and 0.92c((TY))+0.40c((TZ))=(2.6±5.3)×10(-11) in the standard model extension framework [D. Colladay, V. A. Kostelecký, Phys. Rev. D. 58, 116002 (1998)].

Bound on the photon charge from the phase coherence of extragalactic radiation.

If the photon possessed a nonzero charge, then electromagnetic waves traveling along different paths would acquire Aharonov-Bohm phase differences. The fact that such an effect has not hindered interferometric astronomy places a bound on the photon charge estimated to be at the 10(-32)e level if all photons have the same charge and 10(-46)e if different photons can carry different charges.

Vacuum Cerenkov radiation in Lorentz-violating theories without CPT violation.

In theories with broken Lorentz symmetry, Cerenkov radiation may be possible even in vacuum. We analyze the Cerenkov emissions that are associated with the least constrained Lorentz-violating modifications of the photon sector, calculating the threshold energy, the frequency spectrum, and the shape of the Mach cone. In order to obtain sensible results for the total power emitted, we must make use of information contained within the theory which indicates at what scale new physics must enter.