10,693 research outputs found
Reasoning about Action: An Argumentation - Theoretic Approach
We present a uniform non-monotonic solution to the problems of reasoning
about action on the basis of an argumentation-theoretic approach. Our theory is
provably correct relative to a sensible minimisation policy introduced on top
of a temporal propositional logic. Sophisticated problem domains can be
formalised in our framework. As much attention of researchers in the field has
been paid to the traditional and basic problems in reasoning about actions such
as the frame, the qualification and the ramification problems, approaches to
these problems within our formalisation lie at heart of the expositions
presented in this paper
The Role of Surface Entropy in Statistical Emission of Massive Fragments from Equilibrated Nuclear Systems
Statistical fragment emission from excited nuclear systems is studied within
the framework of a schematic Fermi-gas model combined with Weisskopf's detailed
balance approach. The formalism considers thermal expansion of finite nuclear
systems and pays special attention to the role of the diffuse surface region in
the decay of hot equilibrated systems. It is found that with increasing
excitation energy, effects of surface entropy lead to a systematic and
significant reduction of effective emission barriers for fragments and,
eventually, to the vanishing of these barriers. The formalism provides a
natural explanation for the occurrence of negative nuclear heat capacities
reported in the literature. It also accounts for the observed linearity of
pseudo-Arrhenius plots of the logarithm of the fragment emission probability
{\it versus} the inverse square-root of the excitation energy, but does not
predict true Arrhenius behavior of these emission probabilities
Dynamical heterogeneities in a two dimensional driven glassy model: current fluctuations and finite size effects
In this article, we demonstrate that in a transport model of particles with
kinetic constraints, long-lived spatial structures are responsible for the
blocking dynamics and the decrease of the current at strong driving field.
Coexistence between mobile and blocked regions can be anticipated by a
first-order transition in the large deviation function for the current. By a
study of the system under confinement, we are able to study finite-size effects
and extract a typical length between mobile regions
Timeless path integral for relativistic quantum mechanics
Starting from the canonical formalism of relativistic (timeless) quantum
mechanics, the formulation of timeless path integral is rigorously derived. The
transition amplitude is reformulated as the sum, or functional integral, over
all possible paths in the constraint surface specified by the (relativistic)
Hamiltonian constraint, and each path contributes with a phase identical to the
classical action divided by . The timeless path integral manifests the
timeless feature as it is completely independent of the parametrization for
paths. For the special case that the Hamiltonian constraint is a quadratic
polynomial in momenta, the transition amplitude admits the timeless Feynman's
path integral over the (relativistic) configuration space. Meanwhile, the
difference between relativistic quantum mechanics and conventional
nonrelativistic (with time) quantum mechanics is elaborated on in light of
timeless path integral.Comment: 41 pages; more references and comments added; version to appear in
CQ
Thermodynamic formalism for dissipative quantum walks
We consider the dynamical properties of dissipative continuous-time quantum
walks on directed graphs. Using a large-deviation approach we construct a
thermodynamic formalism allowing us to define a dynamical order parameter, and
to identify transitions between dynamical regimes. For a particular class of
dissipative quantum walks we propose a quantum generalization of the the
classical PageRank vector, used to rank the importance of nodes in a directed
graph. We also provide an example where one can characterize the dynamical
transition from an effective classical random walk to a dissipative quantum
walk as a thermodynamic crossover between distinct dynamical regimes.Comment: 8 page
Survival benefits in mimicry: a quantitative framework
Mimicry is a resemblance between species that benefits at least one of the
species. It is a ubiquitous evolutionary phenomenon particularly common among
prey species, in which case the advantage involves better protection from
predation. We formulate a mathematical description of mimicry among prey
species, to investigate benefits and disadvantages of mimicry. The basic setup
involves differential equations for quantities representing predator behavior,
namely, the probabilities for attacking prey at the next encounter. Using this
framework, we present new quantitative results, and also provide a unified
description of a significant fraction of the quantitative mimicry literature.
The new results include `temporary' mutualism between prey species, and an
optimal density at which the survival benefit is greatest for the mimic. The
formalism leads naturally to extensions in several directions, such as the
evolution of mimicry, the interplay of mimicry with population dynamics, etc.
We demonstrate this extensibility by presenting some explorations on
spatiotemporal pattern dynamics.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
First-passage method for the study of the efficiency of a two-channel reaction on a lattice
We study the efficiency of a two-channel reaction between two walkers on a
finite one-dimensional periodic lattice. The walkers perform a combination of
synchronous and asynchronous jumps on the lattice and react instantaneously
when they meet at the same site (first channel) or upon position exchange
(second channel). We develop a method based on a conditional first-passage
problem to obtain exact results for the mean number of time steps needed for
the reaction to take place as well as for higher order moments. Previous
results obtained in the framework of a difference equation approach are fully
confirmed, including the existence of a parity effect. For even lattices the
maximum efficiency corresponds to a mixture of synchronous events and a small
amount of asynchronous events, while for odd lattices the reaction time is
minimized by a purely synchronous process. We provide an intuitive explanation
for this behavior. In addition, we give explicit expressions for the variance
of the reaction time. The latter displays a similar even-odd behavior,
suggesting that the parity effect extends to higher order moments.Comment: 17 pages, 2 tables, 6 figures, revtex
Diffraction 2000: New Scaling Laws in Shadow Dynamics
New scaling structure for the shadow corrections in elastic scattering from
deuteron at high energies has been presented and discussed. It is shown that
this structure corresponds to the experimental data on
proton(antiproton)-deuteron total cross sections. The effect of weakening for
the inelastic screening at superhigh energies has been theoretically predicted.Comment: LaTex2e, espcrc2.sty, 2 figures, Contribution to the Workshop
"Diffraction 2000", Cetraro, Ialy, Sept. 2-7, 2000, to be published in
proceedings of the Worksho
Mean Escape Time in a System with Stochastic Volatility
We study the mean escape time in a market model with stochastic volatility.
The process followed by the volatility is the Cox Ingersoll and Ross process
which is widely used to model stock price fluctuations. The market model can be
considered as a generalization of the Heston model, where the geometric
Brownian motion is replaced by a random walk in the presence of a cubic
nonlinearity. We investigate the statistical properties of the escape time of
the returns, from a given interval, as a function of the three parameters of
the model. We find that the noise can have a stabilizing effect on the system,
as long as the global noise is not too high with respect to the effective
potential barrier experienced by a fictitious Brownian particle. We compare the
probability density function of the return escape times of the model with those
obtained from real market data. We find that they fit very well.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
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