13,001 research outputs found
Probably Safe or Live
This paper presents a formal characterisation of safety and liveness
properties \`a la Alpern and Schneider for fully probabilistic systems. As for
the classical setting, it is established that any (probabilistic tree) property
is equivalent to a conjunction of a safety and liveness property. A simple
algorithm is provided to obtain such property decomposition for flat
probabilistic CTL (PCTL). A safe fragment of PCTL is identified that provides a
sound and complete characterisation of safety properties. For liveness
properties, we provide two PCTL fragments, a sound and a complete one. We show
that safety properties only have finite counterexamples, whereas liveness
properties have none. We compare our characterisation for qualitative
properties with the one for branching time properties by Manolios and Trefler,
and present sound and complete PCTL fragments for characterising the notions of
strong safety and absolute liveness coined by Sistla
Precise Charm- and Bottom-Quark Masses: Theoretical and Experimental Uncertainties
Recent theoretical and experimental improvements in the determination of
charm and bottom quark masses are discussed. A new and improved evaluation of
the contribution from the gluon condensate to the
charm mass determination and a detailed study of potential uncertainties in the
continuum cross section for production is presented, together with a
study of the parametric uncertainty from the -dependence of our
results. The final results, MeV and
MeV, represent, together with a closely related lattice
determination MeV, the presently most precise
determinations of these two fundamental Standard Model parameters. A critical
analysis of the theoretical and experimental uncertainties is presented.Comment: 12 pages, presented at Quarks~2010, 16th International Seminar of
High Energy Physics, Kolomna, Russia, June 6-12, 2010; v2: references adde
Intercalation-enhanced electric polarization and chain formation of nano-layered particles
Microscopy observations show that suspensions of synthetic and natural
nano-layered smectite clay particles submitted to a strong external electric
field undergo a fast and extended structuring. This structuring results from
the interaction between induced electric dipoles, and is only possible for
particles with suitable polarization properties. Smectite clay colloids are
observed to be particularly suitable, in contrast to similar suspensions of a
non-swelling clay. Synchrotron X-ray scattering experiments provide the
orientation distributions for the particles. These distributions are understood
in terms of competing (i) homogenizing entropy and (ii) interaction between the
particles and the local electric field; they show that clay particles polarize
along their silica sheet. Furthermore, a change in the platelet separation
inside nano-layered particles occurs under application of the electric field,
indicating that intercalated ions and water molecules play a role in their
electric polarization. The resulting induced dipole is structurally attached to
the particle, and this causes particles to reorient and interact, resulting in
the observed macroscopic structuring. The macroscopic properties of these
electro-rheological smectite suspensions may be tuned by controlling the nature
and quantity of the intercalated species, at the nanoscale.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
On the ratio of consecutive gaps between primes
In the present work we prove a common generalization of Maynard-Tao's recent
result about consecutive bounded gaps between primes and on the
Erd\H{o}s-Rankin bound about large gaps between consecutive primes. The work
answers in a strong form a 60 years old problem of Erd\"os, which asked whether
the ratio of two consecutive primegaps can be infinitely often arbitrarily
small, and arbitrarily large, respectively
Dominant g(9/2)^2 neutron configuration in the 4+1 state of 68Zn based on new g factor measurements
The factor of the state in Zn has been remeasured with
improved energy resolution of the detectors used. The value obtained is
consistent with the previous result of a negative factor thus confirming
the dominant neutron nature of the state. In addition, the
accuracy of the factors of the , and states has been
improved an d their lifetimes were well reproduced. New large-scale shell model
calculations based on a Ni core and an model space
yield a theoretical value, . Although the calculated value
is small, it cannot fully explain the experimental value, . The magnitude of the deduced B(E2) of the and
transition is, however, rather well described. These results demonstrate again
the importance of factor measurements for nuclear structure determination s
due to their specific sensitivity to detailed proton and neutron components in
the nuclear wave functions.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figs, submitted to PL
Perspective: C60+ and laboratory spectroscopy related to diffuse interstellar bands
In the last 30 years, our research has focused on laboratory measurements of the electronic spectra of organic radicals and ions. Many of the species investigated were selected based on their potential astrophysical relevance, particularly in connection with the identification of appealing candidate molecules for the diffuse interstellar absorptions. Notably, carbon chains and derivatives containing hydrogen and nitrogen atoms in their neutral and ionic forms were studied. These data could be obtained after developing appropriate techniques to record spectra at low temperatures relevant to the interstellar medium. The measurement of gas phase laboratory spectra has enabled direct comparisons with astronomical data to be made and though many species were found to have electronic transitions in the visible where the majority of diffuse bands are observed, none of the absorptions matched the prominent interstellar features. In 2015, however, the first carrier molecule was identified: C+60. This was achieved after the measurement of the electronic spectrum of C+60–He at 6K in a radiofrequency ion trap
A Method to Polarize Stored Antiprotons to a High Degree
Polarized antiprotons can be produced in a storage ring by spin--dependent
interaction in a purely electron--polarized hydrogen gas target. The polarizing
process is based on spin transfer from the polarized electrons of the target
atoms to the orbiting antiprotons. After spin filtering for about two beam
lifetimes at energies MeV using a dedicated large acceptance
ring, the antiproton beam polarization would reach . Polarized
antiprotons would open new and unique research opportunities for spin--physics
experiments in interactions
Screening by symmetry of long-range hydrodynamic interactions of polymers confined in sheets
Hydrodynamic forces may significantly affect the motion of polymers. In
sheet-like cavities, such as the cell's cytoplasm and microfluidic channels,
the hydrodynamic forces are long-range. It is therefore expected that that
hydrodynamic interactions will dominate the motion of polymers in sheets and
will be manifested by Zimm-like scaling. Quite the opposite, we note here that
although the hydrodynamic forces are long-range their overall effect on the
motion of polymers vanishes due to the symmetry of the two-dimensional flow. As
a result, the predicted scaling of experimental observables such as the
diffusion coefficient or the rotational diffusion time is Rouse-like, in accord
with recent experiments. The effective screening validates the use of the
non-interacting blobs picture for polymers confined in a sheet.Comment: http://www.weizmann.ac.il/complex/tlusty/papers/Macromolecules2006.pdf
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ma060251
Modelling state-dependent interference in common cranes
1. Interference is a key component of food competition, but is difficult to measure in
natural animal populations. Using data from a long-term study, we show that interference
between common cranes Grus grus L., feeding on patches of cereal seeds, reduces intake
rates at high competitor densities, and that the strength of interference is unrelated to
food abundance.
2. An alternative to measuring interference directly is to predict its strength using
behaviour-based models. We test an interference model, originally developed for
shorebirds feeding on invertebrate prey, for cranes. We compare the predictions of a
rate-maximizing model, in which animals steal food if this increases intake rate, and
a state-dependent model, in which they only rate-maximize if their intake rate is below
a target value, otherwise they minimize injury risk by not stealing food. State-dependent aggression occurs in cranes.
3. The state-dependent model predicts more accurately the relative aggression rates of
cranes of different dominance. However, both models predict accurately the observed strength of interference, that the strength of interference is unrelated to food abundance, at least within the observed range of crane and seed densities, and that cranes of a higher dominance have a higher intake rate than those of lower dominance.
4. This paper shows how state-dependent behaviour can be incorporated into an
interference model, and that the model can produce accurate predictions for a system
quite different to that for which it was developed.RAS was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.
LMB was partially funded by Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (MCyT) and research grant PB97-1252 of MCyT. Field work was funded by DGICYT project PB87-0389 of the MCyT.Peer reviewe
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