686 research outputs found
Optimal Reachability in Divergent Weighted Timed Games
Weighted timed games are played by two players on a timed automaton equipped
with weights: one player wants to minimise the accumulated weight while
reaching a target, while the other has an opposite objective. Used in a
reactive synthesis perspective, this quantitative extension of timed games
allows one to measure the quality of controllers. Weighted timed games are
notoriously difficult and quickly undecidable, even when restricted to
non-negative weights. Decidability results exist for subclasses of one-clock
games, and for a subclass with non-negative weights defined by a semantical
restriction on the weights of cycles. In this work, we introduce the class of
divergent weighted timed games as a generalisation of this semantical
restriction to arbitrary weights. We show how to compute their optimal value,
yielding the first decidable class of weighted timed games with negative
weights and an arbitrary number of clocks. In addition, we prove that
divergence can be decided in polynomial space. Last, we prove that for untimed
games, this restriction yields a class of games for which the value can be
computed in polynomial time
Phase locking a clock oscillator to a coherent atomic ensemble
The sensitivity of an atomic interferometer increases when the phase
evolution of its quantum superposition state is measured over a longer
interrogation interval. In practice, a limit is set by the measurement process,
which returns not the phase, but its projection in terms of population
difference on two energetic levels. The phase interval over which the relation
can be inverted is thus limited to the interval ; going beyond
it introduces an ambiguity in the read out, hence a sensitivity loss. Here, we
extend the unambiguous interval to probe the phase evolution of an atomic
ensemble using coherence preserving measurements and phase corrections, and
demonstrate the phase lock of the clock oscillator to an atomic superposition
state. We propose a protocol based on the phase lock to improve atomic clocks
under local oscillator noise, and foresee the application to other atomic
interferometers such as inertial sensors.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
Optimal infinite scheduling for multi-priced timed automata
This paper is concerned with the derivation of infinite schedules for timed automata that are in some sense optimal. To cover a wide class of optimality criteria we start out by introducing an extension of the (priced) timed automata model that includes both costs and rewards as separate modelling features. A precise definition is then given of what constitutes optimal infinite behaviours for this class of models. We subsequently show that the derivation of optimal non-terminating schedules for such double-priced timed automata is computable. This is done by a reduction of the problem to the determination of optimal mean-cycles in finite graphs with weighted edges. This reduction is obtained by introducing the so-called corner-point abstraction, a powerful abstraction technique of which we show that it preserves optimal schedules
Experimental and numerical study of crack healing in a nuclear glass
International audiencea b s t r a c t An experimental study of thermally or water-induced crack healing in an inactive borosil-icate glass, chemically analogous to that used in France for the vitrification of nuclear waste was carried out. Partial welding of glass plates was observed after annealing in air at 425 °C (77 °C below T g) when at least 20 MPa compressive stress was applied, while annealing at 450 °C under 20 MPa led to a complete disappearance of the interface. Closure of indenta-tion-induced cracks was observed during annealing at 400 °C in an ESEM as a result of viscous relaxation of residual stresses but it did not constitute a sufficient proof of crack healing. DCDC specimens were thus pre-cracked in an ESEM and then either annealed at various temperatures (350â490 °C) in secondary vacuum or in air, or left in water at 70â90 °C, sometimes under a compressive stress normal to the crack face. The specimens were then reloaded in the ESEM and the crack opening displacements under a given load were compared to those measured during pre-cracking. The cracks were bridged by an alteration layer over a distance from the crack tip which decreased as loading increased. The restraining effect of these bridges on crack opening was assessed via finite element simulations, using interface elements. The tensile strength of the bridging layer was estimated as 27â39 MPa after vacuum annealing at 400 °C, 11â20 MPa after 15 days in water at 90 °C and 44â78 MPa after 11 days in water at 70 °C under 5 MPa normal compression. Partially healed cracks did not resume propagation from their former crack tip, but due to branch cracks re-initiated a few hundred microns behind it which grow avoiding the healed area. This behaviour was explained using finite element simulations
Interrupt Timed Automata: verification and expressiveness
We introduce the class of Interrupt Timed Automata (ITA), a subclass of
hybrid automata well suited to the description of timed multi-task systems with
interruptions in a single processor environment. While the reachability problem
is undecidable for hybrid automata we show that it is decidable for ITA. More
precisely we prove that the untimed language of an ITA is regular, by building
a finite automaton as a generalized class graph. We then establish that the
reachability problem for ITA is in NEXPTIME and in PTIME when the number of
clocks is fixed. To prove the first result, we define a subclass ITA- of ITA,
and show that (1) any ITA can be reduced to a language-equivalent automaton in
ITA- and (2) the reachability problem in this subclass is in NEXPTIME (without
any class graph). In the next step, we investigate the verification of real
time properties over ITA. We prove that model checking SCL, a fragment of a
timed linear time logic, is undecidable. On the other hand, we give model
checking procedures for two fragments of timed branching time logic. We also
compare the expressive power of classical timed automata and ITA and prove that
the corresponding families of accepted languages are incomparable. The result
also holds for languages accepted by controlled real-time automata (CRTA), that
extend timed automata. We finally combine ITA with CRTA, in a model which
encompasses both classes and show that the reachability problem is still
decidable. Additionally we show that the languages of ITA are neither closed
under complementation nor under intersection
Nuclear Envelope Associated Tether (NEAT) system
Creating transgenic plants relies on the random insertion of genes into DNA. Insert position within the genome can play a huge role in the expression level of the transgene. In other model systems, studies have shown that the physical position of the chromatin within the nucleus may alter gene expression. Chromatin positioning at the nuclear pore (NPC) is associated with enhanced expression of genes. We have used a LacO-LacI system to tether a luciferase reporter gene to the NPC and are checking expression levels by luciferase assays
Coherent Backscattering of Ultracold Atoms
We report on the direct observation of coherent backscattering (CBS) of
ultracold atoms, in a quasi-two-dimensional configuration. Launching atoms with
a well-defined momentum in a laser speckle disordered potential, we follow the
progressive build up of the momentum scattering pattern, consisting of a ring
associated with multiple elastic scattering, and the CBS peak in the backward
direction. Monitoring the depletion of the initial momentum component and the
formation of the angular ring profile allows us to determine microscopic
transport quantities. The time resolved evolution of the CBS peak is studied
and is found a fair agreement with predictions, at long times as well as at
short times. The observation of CBS can be considered a direct signature of
coherence in quantum transport of particles in disordered media. It is
responsible for the so called weak localization phenomenon, which is the
precursor of Anderson localization.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Testing real-time systems using TINA
The paper presents a technique for model-based black-box conformance testing of real-time systems using the Time Petri Net Analyzer TINA. Such test suites are derived from a prioritized time Petri net composed of two concurrent sub-nets specifying respectively the expected behaviour of the system under test and its environment.We describe how the toolbox TINA has been extended to support automatic generation of time-optimal test suites. The result is optimal in the sense that the set of test cases in the test suite have the shortest possible accumulated time to be executed. Input/output conformance serves as the notion of implementation correctness, essentially timed trace inclusion taking environment assumptions into account. Test cases selection is based either on using manually formulated test purposes or automatically from various coverage criteria specifying structural criteria of the model to be fulfilled by the test suite. We discuss how test purposes and coverage criterion are specified in the linear temporal logic SE-LTL, derive test sequences, and assign verdicts
Quantum interference of ultrastable twin optical beams
We report the first measurement of the quantum phase-difference noise of an
ultrastable nondegenerate optical parametric oscillator that emits twin beams
classically phase-locked at exact frequency degeneracy. The measurement
illustrates the property of a lossless balanced beam-splitter to convert
number-difference squeezing into phase-difference squeezing and, thus, provides
indirect evidence for Heisenberg-limited interferometry using twin beams. This
experiment is a generalization of the Hong-Ou-Mandel interference effect for
continuous variables and constitutes a milestone towards continuous-variable
entanglement of bright, ultrastable nondegenerate beams.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figs, accepted by Phys. Rev. Let
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