Radial Velocity Prospects Current and Future: A White Paper Report prepared by the Study Analysis Group 8 for the Exoplanet Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG)

[Abridged] The Study Analysis Group 8 of the NASA Exoplanet Analysis Group was convened to assess the current capabilities and the future potential of the precise radial velocity (PRV) method to advance the NASA goal to "search for planetary bodies and Earth-like planets in orbit around other stars.: (U.S. National Space Policy, June 28, 2010). PRVs complement other exoplanet detection methods, for example offering a direct path to obtaining the bulk density and thus the structure and composition of transiting exoplanets. Our analysis builds upon previous community input, including the ExoPlanet Community Report chapter on radial velocities in 2008, the 2010 Decadal Survey of Astronomy, the Penn State Precise Radial Velocities Workshop response to the Decadal Survey in 2010, and the NSF Portfolio Review in 2012. The radial-velocity detection of exoplanets is strongly endorsed by both the Astro 2010 Decadal Survey "New Worlds, New Horizons" and the NSF Portfolio Review, and the community has recommended robust investment in PRVs. The demands on telescope time for the above mission support, especially for systems of small planets, will exceed the number of nights available using instruments now in operation by a factor of at least several for TESS alone. Pushing down towards true Earth twins will require more photons (i.e. larger telescopes), more stable spectrographs than are currently available, better calibration, and better correction for stellar jitter. We outline four hypothetical situations for PRV work necessary to meet NASA mission exoplanet science objectives.Comment: ExoPAG SAG 8 final report, 112 pages, fixed author name onl

Artificial Intelligence and Ambient Intelligence

This book includes a series of scientific papers published in the Special Issue on Artificial Intelligence and Ambient Intelligence at the journal Electronics MDPI. The book starts with an opinion paper on “Relations between Electronics, Artificial Intelligence and Information Society through Information Society Rules”, presenting relations between information society, electronics and artificial intelligence mainly through twenty-four IS laws. After that, the book continues with a series of technical papers that present applications of Artificial Intelligence and Ambient Intelligence in a variety of fields including affective computing, privacy and security in smart environments, and robotics. More specifically, the first part presents usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods in combination with wearable devices (e.g., smartphones and wristbands) for recognizing human psychological states (e.g., emotions and cognitive load). The second part presents usage of AI methods in combination with laser sensors or Wi-Fi signals for improving security in smart buildings by identifying and counting the number of visitors. The last part presents usage of AI methods in robotics for improving robots’ ability for object gripping manipulation and perception. The language of the book is rather technical, thus the intended audience are scientists and researchers who have at least some basic knowledge in computer science

Hipparcos preliminary astrometric masses for the two close-in companions to HD 131664 and HD 43848. A brown dwarf and a low mass star

[abridged] We attempt to improve on the characterization of the properties (orbital elements, masses) of two Doppler-detected sub-stellar companions to the nearby G dwarfs HD 131664 and HD 43848. We carry out orbital fits to the Hipparcos IAD for the two stars, taking advantage of the knowledge of the spectroscopic orbits, and solving for the two orbital elements that can be determined in principle solely by astrometry, the inclination angle $i$ and the longitude of the ascending node $\Omega$. A number of checks are carried out in order to assess the reliability of the orbital solutions thus obtained. The best-fit solution for HD 131664 yields $i=55\pm33$ deg and $\Omega=22\pm28$ deg. The resulting inferred true companion mass is then $M_c = 23_{-5}^{+26}$ $M_J$. For \object{HD 43848}, we find $i=12\pm7$ deg and $\Omega=288\pm22$ deg, and $M_c = 120_{-43}^{+167}$ $M_J$. Based on the statistical evidence from an $F$-test, the study of the joint confidence intervals of variation of $i$ and $\Omega$, and the comparison of the derived orbital semi-major axes with a distribution of false astrometric orbits obtained for single stars observed by Hipparcos, the astrometric signal of the two companions to HD 131664 and HD 43848 is then considered detected in the Hipparcos IAD, with a level of statistical confidence not exceeding 95%. We constrain the true mass of HD 131664b to that of a brown dwarf to within a somewhat statistically significant degree of confidence ($\sim2-\sigma$). For HD 43848b, a true mass in the brown dwarf regime is ruled out at the $1-\sigma$ confidence level. [abridged]Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic