13,043 research outputs found
Evolutionary Algorithms for Community Detection in Continental-Scale High-Voltage Transmission Grids
Symmetry is a key concept in the study of power systems, not only because the admittance and Jacobian matrices used in power flow analysis are symmetrical, but because some previous studies have shown that in some real-world power grids there are complex symmetries. In order to investigate the topological characteristics of power grids, this paper proposes the use of evolutionary algorithms for community detection using modularity density measures on networks representing supergrids in order to discover densely connected structures. Two evolutionary approaches (generational genetic algorithm, GGA+, and modularity and improved genetic algorithm, MIGA) were applied. The results obtained in two large networks representing supergrids (European grid and North American grid) provide insights on both the structure of the supergrid and the topological differences between different regions. Numerical and graphical results show how these evolutionary approaches clearly outperform to the well-known Louvain modularity method. In particular, the average value of modularity obtained by GGA+ in the European grid was 0.815, while an average of 0.827 was reached in the North American grid. These results outperform those obtained by MIGA and Louvain methods (0.801 and 0.766 in the European grid and 0.813 and 0.798 in the North American grid, respectively)
Guided Machine Learning for power grid segmentation
The segmentation of large scale power grids into zones is crucial for control
room operators when managing the grid complexity near real time. In this paper
we propose a new method in two steps which is able to automatically do this
segmentation, while taking into account the real time context, in order to help
them handle shifting dynamics. Our method relies on a "guided" machine learning
approach. As a first step, we define and compute a task specific "Influence
Graph" in a guided manner. We indeed simulate on a grid state chosen
interventions, representative of our task of interest (managing active power
flows in our case). For visualization and interpretation, we then build a
higher representation of the grid relevant to this task by applying the graph
community detection algorithm \textit{Infomap} on this Influence Graph. To
illustrate our method and demonstrate its practical interest, we apply it on
commonly used systems, the IEEE-14 and IEEE-118. We show promising and original
interpretable results, especially on the previously well studied RTS-96 system
for grid segmentation. We eventually share initial investigation and results on
a large-scale system, the French power grid, whose segmentation had a
surprising resemblance with RTE's historical partitioning
An ancient extrasolar system with five sub-Earth-size planets
The chemical composition of stars hosting small exoplanets (with radii less
than four Earth radii) appears to be more diverse than that of gas-giant hosts,
which tend to be metal-rich. This implies that small, including Earth-size,
planets may have readily formed at earlier epochs in the Universe's history
when metals were more scarce. We report Kepler spacecraft observations of
Kepler-444, a metal-poor Sun-like star from the old population of the Galactic
thick disk and the host to a compact system of five transiting planets with
sizes between those of Mercury and Venus. We validate this system as a true
five-planet system orbiting the target star and provide a detailed
characterization of its planetary and orbital parameters based on an analysis
of the transit photometry. Kepler-444 is the densest star with detected
solar-like oscillations. We use asteroseismology to directly measure a precise
age of 11.2+/-1.0 Gyr for the host star, indicating that Kepler-444 formed when
the Universe was less than 20% of its current age and making it the oldest
known system of terrestrial-size planets. We thus show that Earth-size planets
have formed throughout most of the Universe's 13.8-billion-year history,
leaving open the possibility for the existence of ancient life in the Galaxy.
The age of Kepler-444 not only suggests that thick-disk stars were among the
hosts to the first Galactic planets, but may also help to pinpoint the
beginning of the era of planet formation.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 42 pages, 10 figures, 4 table
Recent Advances in Graph Partitioning
We survey recent trends in practical algorithms for balanced graph
partitioning together with applications and future research directions
Comparison of Theoretical Starburst Photoionisation Models for Optical Diagnostics
We study and compare different examples of stellar evolutionary synthesis
input parameters used to produce photoionisation model grids using the MAPPINGS
V modelling code. The aim of this study is to (a) explore the systematic
effects of various stellar evolutionary synthesis model parameters on the
interpretation of emission lines in optical strong-line diagnostic diagrams,
(b) characterise the combination of parameters able to reproduce the spread of
local galaxies located in the star-forming region in the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey, and (c) investigate the emission from extremely metal-poor galaxies
using photoionisation models. We explore and compare the stellar input ionising
spectrum (stellar population synthesis code [Starburst99, SLUG, BPASS], stellar
evolutionary tracks, stellar atmospheres, star-formation history, sampling of
the initial mass function) as well as parameters intrinsic to the H II region
(metallicity, ionisation parameter, pressure, H II region boundedness). We also
perform a comparison of the photoionisation codes MAPPINGS and CLOUDY. On the
variations in the ionising spectrum model parameters, we find that the
differences in strong emission-line ratios between varying models for a given
input model parameter are small, on average ~0.1 dex. An average difference of
~0.1 dex in emission-line ratio is also found between models produced with
MAPPINGS and CLOUDY. Large differences between the emission-line ratios are
found when comparing intrinsic H II region parameters. We find that
low-metallicity galaxies are better explained by a density-bounded H II region
and higher pressures better encompass the spread of galaxies at high redshift.Comment: 33 pages, 26 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Smart Grid for the Smart City
Modern cities are embracing cutting-edge technologies to improve the services they offer to the citizens from traffic control to the reduction of greenhouse gases and energy provisioning. In this chapter, we look at the energy sector advocating how Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and signal processing techniques can be integrated into next generation power grids for an increased effectiveness in terms of: electrical stability, distribution, improved communication security, energy production, and utilization. In particular, we deliberate about the use of these techniques within new demand response paradigms, where communities of prosumers (e.g., households, generating part of their electricity consumption) contribute to the satisfaction of the energy demand through load balancing and peak shaving. Our discussion also covers the use of big data analytics for demand response and serious games as a tool to promote energy-efficient behaviors from end users
Applications of Stellar Population Synthesis in the Distant Universe
Comparison with artificial galaxy models is essential for translating the
incomplete and low signal-to-noise data we can obtain on astrophysical stellar
populations to physical interpretations which describe their composition,
physical properties, histories and internal conditions. In particular, this is
true for distant galaxies, whose unresolved light embeds clues to their
formation and evolution as well as their impact on their wider environs.
Stellar population synthesis models are now used as the foundation of analysis
at all redshifts, but are not without their problems. Here we review the use of
stellar population synthesis models, with a focus on applications in the
distant Universe.Comment: 32 page review, published in Galaxies special issue, "Star Formation
in the UV", ed. Jorick Vin
Theoretical Modeling of Starburst Galaxies
We have modeled a large sample of infrared starburst galaxies using both the
PEGASE v2.0 and STARBURST99 codes to generate the spectral energy distribution
of the young star clusters. PEGASE utilizes the Padova group tracks while
STARBURST99 uses the Geneva group tracks, allowing comparison between the two.
We used our MAPPINGS III code to compute photoionization models which include a
self-consistent treatment of dust physics and chemical depletion. We use the
standard optical diagnostic diagrams as indicators of the hardness of the EUV
radiation field in these galaxies. These diagnostic diagrams are most sensitive
to the spectral index of the ionizing radiation field in the 1-4 Rydberg
region. We find that warm infrared starburst galaxies contain a relatively hard
EUV field in this region. The PEGASE ionizing stellar continuum is harder in
the 1-4 Rydberg range than that of STARBURST99. As the spectrum in this regime
is dominated by emission from Wolf-Rayet (W-R) stars, this difference is most
likely due to the differences in stellar atmosphere models used for the W-R
stars. We believe that the stellar atmospheres in STARBURST99 are more
applicable to the starburst galaxies in our sample, however they do not produce
the hard EUV field in the 1-4 Rydberg region required by our observations. The
inclusion of continuum metal blanketing in the models may be one solution.
Supernova remnant (SNR) shock modeling shows that the contribution by
mechanical energy from SNRs to the photoionization models is << 20%. The models
presented here are used to derive a new theoretical classification scheme for
starbursts and AGN galaxies based on the optical diagnostic diagrams.Comment: 36 pages, 16 figures, to be published in ApJ, July 20, 200
Asteroseismic properties of solar-type stars observed with the NASA K2 mission: results from Campaigns 1-3 and prospects for future observations
We present an asteroseismic analysis of 33 solar-type stars observed in short
cadence during Campaigns (C) 1-3 of the NASA K2 mission. We were able to
extract both average seismic parameters and individual mode frequencies for
stars with dominant frequencies up to ~3300{\mu}Hz, and we find that data for
some targets are good enough to allow for a measurement of the rotational
splitting. Modelling of the extracted parameters is performed by using
grid-based methods using average parameters and individual frequencies together
with spectroscopic parameters. For the target selection in C3, stars were
chosen as in C1 and C2 to cover a wide range in parameter space to better
understand the performance and noise characteristics. For C3 we still detected
oscillations in 73% of the observed stars that we proposed. Future K2 campaigns
hold great promise for the study of nearby clusters and the chemical evolution
and age-metallicity relation of nearby field stars in the solar neighbourhood.
We expect oscillations to be detected in ~388 short-cadence targets if the K2
mission continues until C18, which will greatly complement the ~500 detections
of solar-like oscillations made for short-cadence targets during the nominal
Kepler mission. For ~30-40 of these, including several members of the Hyades
open cluster, we furthermore expect that inference from interferometry should
be possible.Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables; accepted for publication in PAS
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