In briefFinding equilibrium prices in online markets with fees, taxes, and subsidies
SummaryThe paper studies how to compute market equilibria in multi-unit trading networks where valuations satisfy generalized full substitutes and transfers are piecewise-linear and specific to agents and transactions, modeling platform fees, taxes, subsidies, and membership discounts. The authors propose an ascending price procedure that raises prices at different rates and reaches the minimum equilibrium price vector in finitely many iterations, each implementable in strongly polynomial time. An equilibrium allocation can then be recovered efficiently. The approach extends primal-dual auction techniques to handle complementarities between purchases and sales via a submodular flow formulation.
WhyThe authors extend primal-dual ascending auction techniques to trading networks with platform fees and subsidies, reporting strongly polynomial equilibrium computation.
In briefNearly optimal sample-size versus consensus-time trade-off in consensus dynamics
SummaryThis paper studies how the number of sampled opinions affects the time needed for distributed nodes to reach consensus. It analyzes the synchronous h-Majority rule, in which each node samples h random nodes per round and adopts the most frequent opinion, with random tie-breaking. The authors show that h-Majority achieves a nearly optimal trade-off between sample size and consensus time among a broad class of consensus dynamics.
WhyThe authors give a consensus-time upper bound for h-Majority valid for all h≥3 and initial configurations, with a matching lower bound up to polylog factors.
Francesco d'Amore, Joel Rybicki, Nobutaka Shimizu et al.
In briefSCL-Aware Design of PAC Codes: Designing Error-Correcting Codes for List Decoding
SummaryThis paper presents design methods for the rate profile of polarization-adjusted convolutional (PAC) codes intended for successive cancellation list (SCL) decoding. It introduces a conditional density evolution Gaussian approximation (CDEGA) to analyze decoding with errors, and a dangerous-path occupancy metric to measure bit-error occupancy in a finite list. Using these tools, the authors design codes of length up to 512 that reportedly achieve at least half a dB gain over traditional PAC codes at an FER of 10^-3.
In briefSPECTRUM: A Blueprint and Strategy for Europe's Exascale Research Data and Compute Infrastructure
SummaryThis paper summarises two SPECTRUM project documents: a Technical Blueprint and a Strategic Research, Innovation and Deployment Agenda (SRIDA). It notes that the HiLumi LHC, SKA Observatory and LOFAR 2.0 will push high energy physics and radio astronomy towards exabyte-scale data within a decade. The documents share the same evidence base, offering technical recommendations and a phased roadmap of priorities. The paper also describes their consultative method and the impact the SRIDA expects.
Sergio Andreozzi, Stefano Bagnasco, Florian Berberich et al.
In briefAverage pairwise Hamming distance within hypercube subsets
SummaryThis paper studies subsets of the hypercube {0,1}^n with density 1/8 and proves that their average pairwise Hamming distance is at least (n-3)/2. Equality holds only for (n-3)-dimensional subcubes. The result answers a question posed by Lei Yu and resolves an important open case of a broader problem raised by Ahlswede and Katona in 1977.
WhyThe authors prove that a density-1/8 subset of the hypercube has average pairwise Hamming distance at least (n-3)/2, with equality only for (n-3)-dimensional subcubes, answering a question of Yu and a
In briefCan Language Models Be Trusted to Orchestrate Edge-Cloud Services?
SummaryThis paper systematically reviews 39 primary studies on using language models to orchestrate services across the edge-cloud continuum. It proposes a five-dimensional framework linking system context, orchestration decisions, language model agency, operational safeguards, and evaluation evidence. The review finds mostly hybrid designs, where language models support interpretation, candidate generation, and mitigation planning, while downstream components typically keep feasibility enforcement and execution authority.
In briefFirst-order bilevel optimization for designing non-truthful auctions
SummaryThe paper formulates auction design as a Stackelberg game with multiple strategic followers and proposes a fully first-order algorithm for revenue optimization in non-truthful auctions. It establishes non-asymptotic guarantees for hypergradient approximation and shows that, under standard smoothness and strong-monotonicity assumptions, the method reaches an O(ε)-stationary point with about Õ(ε⁻²) first-order oracle calls. Experiments on single-item and multi-item auctions report faster convergence than second- and zeroth-order baselines, better scaling with more bidders, and auctions whose revenue approaches that of truthful baselines.
In briefTrue 3D Holography: Future Communication Service and Requirements for Converged Cloud-Network Architecture toward 6G
SummaryThis paper examines true 3D holographic communication as a use case in the 6G NeXt research project and sets out its requirements for communication and computing infrastructure. It argues that such services need high processing power, a high-speed distributed backbone supporting split computing, and tight integration between processing facilities and wireless networks. The authors propose an overall communication and computing architecture and discuss novel technological approaches based on it.
Ingo Friese, Mandy Galkow-Schneider, Louay Bassbouss et al.
