606 research outputs found
Numerical Integration and Dynamic Discretization in Heuristic Search Planning over Hybrid Domains
In this paper we look into the problem of planning over hybrid domains, where
change can be both discrete and instantaneous, or continuous over time. In
addition, it is required that each state on the trajectory induced by the
execution of plans complies with a given set of global constraints. We approach
the computation of plans for such domains as the problem of searching over a
deterministic state model. In this model, some of the successor states are
obtained by solving numerically the so-called initial value problem over a set
of ordinary differential equations (ODE) given by the current plan prefix.
These equations hold over time intervals whose duration is determined
dynamically, according to whether zero crossing events take place for a set of
invariant conditions. The resulting planner, FS+, incorporates these features
together with effective heuristic guidance. FS+ does not impose any of the
syntactic restrictions on process effects often found on the existing
literature on Hybrid Planning. A key concept of our approach is that a clear
separation is struck between planning and simulation time steps. The former is
the time allowed to observe the evolution of a given dynamical system before
committing to a future course of action, whilst the later is part of the model
of the environment. FS+ is shown to be a robust planner over a diverse set of
hybrid domains, taken from the existing literature on hybrid planning and
systems.Comment: 17 page
Destabilization of rotating flows with positive shear by azimuthal magnetic fields
According to Rayleigh's criterion, rotating flows are linearly stable when
their specific angular momentum increases radially outward. The celebrated
magnetorotational instability opens a way to destabilize those flows, as long
as the angular velocity is decreasing outward. Using a short-wavelength
approximation we demonstrate that even flows with very steep positive shear can
be destabilized by azimuthal magnetic fields which are current-free within the
fluid. We illustrate the transition of this instability to a rotationally
enhanced kink-type instability in case of a homogeneous current in the fluid,
and discuss the prospects for observing it in a magnetized Taylor-Couette flow.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figur
Introduction to clarithmetic I
"Clarithmetic" is a generic name for formal number theories similar to Peano
arithmetic, but based on computability logic (see
http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~giorgi/cl.html) instead of the more traditional
classical or intuitionistic logics. Formulas of clarithmetical theories
represent interactive computational problems, and their "truth" is understood
as existence of an algorithmic solution. Imposing various complexity
constraints on such solutions yields various versions of clarithmetic. The
present paper introduces a system of clarithmetic for polynomial time
computability, which is shown to be sound and complete. Sound in the sense that
every theorem T of the system represents an interactive number-theoretic
computational problem with a polynomial time solution and, furthermore, such a
solution can be efficiently extracted from a proof of T. And complete in the
sense that every interactive number-theoretic problem with a polynomial time
solution is represented by some theorem T of the system. The paper is written
in a semitutorial style and targets readers with no prior familiarity with
computability logic
Observably Deterministic Concurrent Strategies and Intensional Full Abstraction for Parallel-or
International audienceAlthough Plotkin's parallel-or is inherently deterministic, it has a non-deterministic interpretation in games based on (prime) event structures-in which an event has a unique causal history-because they do not directly support disjunctive causality. General event structures can express disjunctive causality and have a more permissive notion of determinism, but do not support hiding. We show that (structures equivalent to) deterministic general event structures do support hiding, and construct a new category of games based on them with a deterministic interpretation of aPCFpor, an affine variant of PCF extended with parallel-or. We then exploit this deterministic interpretation to give a relaxed notion of determinism (observable determinism) on the plain event structures model. Putting this together with our previously introduced concurrent notions of well-bracketing and innocence, we obtain an intensionally fully abstract model of aPCFpor
Where do preferences come from?
Rational choice theory analyzes how an agent can rationally act, given his or her preferences, but says little about where those preferences come from. Preferences are usually assumed to be fixed and exogenously given. Building on related work on reasons and rational choice (Dietrich and List, Nous, forthcoming), we describe a framework for conceptualizing preference formation and preference change. In our model, an agent’s preferences are based on certain ‘motivationally salient’ properties of the alternatives over which the preferences are held. Preferences may change as new properties of the alternatives become salient or previously salient properties cease to be salient. Our approach captures endogenous preferences in various contexts and helps to illuminate the distinction between formal and substantive concepts of rationality, as well as the role of perception in rational choice
- …