4,482 research outputs found
Questioning the validity of non-extensive thermodynamics for classical Hamiltonian systems
We examine the non-extensive approach to the statistical mechanics of
Hamiltonian systems with where is the classical kinetic energy. Our
analysis starts from the basics of the formalism by applying the standard
variational method for maximizing the entropy subject to the average energy and
normalization constraints. The analytical results show (i) that the
non-extensive thermodynamics formalism should be called into question to
explain experimental results described by extended exponential distributions
exhibiting long tails, i.e. -exponentials with , and (ii) that in the
thermodynamic limit the theory is only consistent in the range
where the distribution has finite support, thus implying that configurations
with e.g. energy above some limit have zero probability, which is at variance
with the physics of systems in contact with a heat reservoir. We also discuss
the (-dependent) thermodynamic temperature and the generalized specific
heat.Comment: To appear in EuroPhysics Letter
Trajectories and Platoon-forming Algorithm for Intersections with Heterogeneous Autonomous Traffic
The anticipated launch of fully autonomous vehicles presents an opportunity
to develop and implement novel traffic management systems. Intersections are
one of the bottlenecks for urban traffic, and thus offer tremendous potential
for performance improvements of traffic flow if managed efficiently.
Platoon-forming algorithms, in which vehicles are grouped together with short
inter-vehicular distances just before arriving at an intersection at high
speed, seem particularly promising in this aspect. In this work, we present an
intersection access control system based on platoon-forming for heterogeneous
autonomous traffic. The heterogeneity of traffic arises from vehicles with
different acceleration capabilities and safety constraints. We focus on
obtaining computationally fast and interpretable closed-form expressions for
safe and efficient vehicle trajectories that lead to platoon formation, and
show that these trajectories are solutions to certain classes of optimisation
problems. Additionally, we conduct a numerical study to obtain approximations
for intersection capacity as a result of such platoon formation.Comment: 42 pages, 16 figures. 3D Animations included as ancillary file
Statistics of precursors to fingering processes
We present an analysis of the statistical properties of hydrodynamic field
fluctuations which reveal the existence of precursors to fingering processes.
These precursors are found to exhibit power law distributions, and these power
laws are shown to follow from spatial -Gaussian structures which are
solutions to the generalized non-linear diffusion equation.Comment: 7 pages incl. 5 figs; tp appear in Europhysics Letter
The XMM Newton and INTEGRAL observations of the supergiant fast X-ray transient IGR J16328-4726
The accretion mechanism producing the short flares observed from the
Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXT) is still highly debated and forms a
major part in our attempts to place these X-ray binaries in the wider context
of the High Mass X-ray Binaries.
We report on a 216 ks INTEGRAL observation of the SFXT IGR J16328-4726
(August 24-27, 2014) simultaneous with two fixed-time observations with XMM
Newton (33ks and 20ks) performed around the putative periastron passage, in
order to investigate the accretion regime and the wind properties during this
orbital phase. During these observations, the source has shown luminosity
variations, from 4x10^{34} erg/s to 10^{36} erg/s, linked to spectral
properties changes. The soft X-ray continuum is well modeled by a power law
with a photon index varying from 1.2 up to 1.7 and with high values of the
column density in the range 2-4x10^{23}/cm^2. We report on the presence of iron
lines at 6.8-7.1 keV suggesting that the X-ray flux is produced by accretion of
matter from the companion wind characterized by density and temperature
inhomogeneities
Hybrid Amperometric and Potentiometric Sensing Based on a CMOS ISFET Array
Potentiometry and amperometry are some of the most important techniques for electroanalytical applications. Integrating these two techniques on a single chip using CMOS technology paves the way for more analysis and measurement of chemical solutions. In this paper, we describe the integration of electrode transducers (amperometry) on an ion imager based on an ISFET array (potentiometry). In particular, this integration enables the spatial representation of the potential distribution of active electrodes in a chemical solution under investigation
The Rayleigh-Brillouin Spectrum in Special Relativistic Hydrodynamics
In this paper we calculate the Rayleigh-Brillouin spectrum for a relativistic
simple fluid according to three different versions available for a relativistic
approach to non-equilibrium thermodynamics. An outcome of these calculations is
that Eckart's version predicts that such spectrum does not exist. This provides
an argument to question its validity. The remaining two results, which differ
one from another, do provide a finite form for such spectrum. This raises the
rather intriguing question as to which of the two theories is a better
candidate to be taken as a possible version of relativistic non-equilibrium
thermodynamics. The answer will clearly require deeper examination of this
problem.Comment: 13 pages, no figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
High frequency longitudinal and transverse dynamics in water
High-resolution, inelastic x-ray scattering measurements of the dynamic
structure factor S(Q,\omega) of liquid water have been performed for wave
vectors Q between 4 and 30 nm^-1 in distinctly different thermodynamic
conditions (T= 263 - 420 K ; at, or close to, ambient pressure and at P = 2
kbar). In agreement with previous inelastic x-ray and neutron studies, the
presence of two inelastic contributions (one dispersing with Q and the other
almost non-dispersive) is confirmed. The study of their temperature- and
Q-dependence provides strong support for a dynamics of liquid water controlled
by the structural relaxation process. A viscoelastic analysis of the
Q-dispersing mode, associated with the longitudinal dynamics, reveals that the
sound velocity undergoes the complete transition from the adiabatic sound
velocity (c_0) (viscous limit) to the infinite frequency sound velocity
(c_\infinity) (elastic limit). On decreasing Q, as the transition regime is
approached from the elastic side, we observe a decrease of the intensity of the
second, weakly dispersing feature, which completely disappears when the viscous
regime is reached. These findings unambiguously identify the second excitation
to be a signature of the transverse dynamics with a longitudinal symmetry
component, which becomes visible in the S(Q,\omega) as soon as the purely
viscous regime is left.Comment: 28 pages, 12 figure
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Effect of Stimulus Orientation on Visual Function in Children with Refractive Amblyopia.
Purpose: We investigated and characterized the patterns of meridional anisotropies in newly diagnosed refractive amblyopes using pattern onset–offset visual evoked potentials (POVEPs) and psychophysical grating acuity (GA).
Methods: Twenty-five refractive amblyopes were recruited and compared with non-amblyopic controls from our previous study. Monocular POVEPs were recorded in response to sinewave 4 cycles per degree (cpd) grating stimuli oriented along each individual participants' principal astigmatic meridians, which were approximately horizontal (meridian 1) and vertical (meridian 2). Binocular POVEPs in response to the same stimuli, but oriented at 45°, 90°, 135°, and 180°, were recorded. Psychophysical GAs were assessed along the same meridians using a two-alternative non-forced-choice technique. The C3 amplitudes and peak latencies of the POVEPs and GAs were compared across meridians for both groups (refractive amblyopes and controls) using linear mixed models (monocular) and ANOVA (binocular), and post hoc analysis was conducted to determine if meridional anisotropies in this cohort of amblyopes were related to low (≤1.50 diopters [D]), moderate (1.75–2.75 D) and high (≥3.00 D) astigmatism.
Results: In the newly diagnosed refractive amblyopes, there were no significant meridional anisotropies across all outcome measures, but the post hoc analysis demonstrated that C3 amplitude was significantly higher in those with low (P = 0.02) and moderate (P = 0.004) astigmatism compared to those with high astigmatism. Refractive amblyopes had poorer GA and C3 amplitudes compared to controls by approximately two lines on the logMAR chart (monocular: P = 0.013; binocular: P = 0.014) and approximately 6 µV (monocular: P = 0.009; binocular: P = 0.027), respectively.
Conclusions: Deleterious effects of high astigmatism was evident in newly diagnosed refractive amblyopes, but the neural deficits do not seem to be orientation-specific for the stimulus parameters investigated
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Electrophysiological and Psychophysical Studies of Meridional Anisotropies in Children With and Without Astigmatism.
Purpose: We investigated the pattern of meridional anisotropies, if any, for pattern onset-offset visual evoked potential (POVEPs) responses and psychophysical grating acuity (GA) in children with normal letter visual acuity (20/20 or better).
Methods: A total of 29 children (aged 3-9 years), nine of whom were astigmatic (AS), were recruited. Orientation-specific monocular POVEPs were recorded in response to sinewave grating stimuli oriented along the subjects' principal AS meridians. Horizontal and vertical gratings were designated Meridians 1 and 2, respectively, for nonastigmatic patients (Non-AS). Binocular POVEPs in response to the same stimuli, but oriented at 45°, 90°, 135°, and 180°, were recorded. Psychophysical GAs were assessed monocularly and binocularly along the same meridians using the same stimuli by a 2-alternative-forced-choice staircase technique. The C3 amplitudes and peak latencies of the POVEP and GAs were compared across meridians using linear mixed models (monocular) and ANOVA (binocular).
Results: There were significant meridional anisotropies in monocular C3 amplitudes regardless of astigmatism status (P = 0.001): Meridian 2 (mean ± SE Non-AS, 30.13 ± 2.07 μV; AS, 26.53 ± 2.98 μV) was significantly higher than Meridian 1 (Non-AS, 26.14 ± 1.87 μV; AS, 21.68 ± 2.73 μV; P = 0.019), but no meridional anisotropies were found for GA or C3 latency. Binocular C3 amplitude in response to horizontally oriented stimuli (180°, 29.71 ± 3.06 μV) was significantly lower than the oblique (45°, 36.62 ± 3 .05 μV; P = 0.03 and 135°, 35.95 ± 2.92 μV; P = 0.04) and vertical (90°, 37.82 ± 3.65 μV; P = 0.02) meridians, and binocular C3 latency was significantly shorter in response to vertical than oblique gratings (P ≤ 0.001).
Conclusions: Meridional anisotropy was observed in children with normal vision. The findings suggest that horizontal gratings result in a small, but significantly lower POVEP amplitude than for vertical and oblique gratings
High frequency dynamics in a monatomic glass
The high frequency dynamics of glassy Selenium has been studied by Inelastic
X-ray Scattering at beamline BL35XU (SPring-8). The high quality of the data
allows one to pinpoint the existence of a dispersing acoustic mode for
wavevectors () of nm, helping to clarify a previous
contradiction between experimental and numerical results. The sound velocity
shows a positive dispersion, exceeding the hydrodynamic value by 10%
at nm. The dependence of the sound attenuation
, reported for other glasses, is found to be the low- limit of a
more general law which applies also to the
higher region, where no longer holds.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett. (Accepted
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