A constitutive model for AS4/PEEK thermoplastic composites under cyclic loading

Based on the basic and essential features of the elastic-plastic response of the AS4/PEEK thermoplastic composite subjected to off-axis cyclic loadings, a simple rate-independent constitutive model is proposed to describe the orthotropic material behavior for cyclic loadings. A one-parameter memory surface is introduced to distinguish the virgin deformation and the subsequent deformation process and to characterize the loading range effect. Cyclic softening is characterized by the change of generalized plastic modulus. By the vanishing yield surface assumption, a yield criterion is not needed and it is not necessary to consider loading and unloading separately. The model is compared with experimental results and good agreement is obtained

Practicality of spin chain 'wiring' in diamond quantum technologies

Coupled spin chains are promising candidates for 'wiring up' qubits in solid-state quantum computing (QC). In particular, two nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond can be connected by a chain of implanted nitrogen impurities; when driven by a suitable global fields the chain can potentially enable quantum state transfer at room temperature. However, our detailed analysis of error effects suggests that foreseeable systems may fall far short of the fidelities required for QC. Fortunately the chain can function in the more modest role as a mediator of noisy entanglement, enabling QC provided that we use subsequent purification. For instance, a chain of 5 spins with inter-spin distances of 10 nm has finite entangling power as long as the T2 time of the spins exceeds 0.55 ms. Moreover we show that re-purposing the chain this way can remove the restriction to nearest-neighbor interactions, so eliminating the need for complicated dynamical decoupling sequences.Comment: 5 pages (plus 5-page supplement

Ground State Degeneracy in the Levin-Wen Model for Topological Phases

We study properties of topological phases by calculating the ground state degeneracy (GSD) of the 2d Levin-Wen (LW) model. Here it is explicitly shown that the GSD depends only on the spatial topology of the system. Then we show that the ground state on a sphere is always non-degenerate. Moreover, we study an example associated with a quantum group, and show that the GSD on a torus agrees with that of the doubled Chern-Simons theory, consistent with the conjectured equivalence between the LW model associated with a quantum group and the doubled Chern-Simons theory.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. v2: reference added; v3: two appendices adde

Investigating Residents’ Attitudes towards Tourism Growth in Downtown Greenville, SC: The Effect of Demographic Variables

Given the high density of urban spaces, residents and tourists share resources and infrastructure in limited spaces. The purpose of the study is to investigate the influence of residents’ perceived tourism impacts on their attitudes towards tourism growth, the effect of proximity to tourism center on residents’ attitudes, and how this effect is moderated by residents’ demographic features (age, gender, length of residence) in urban settings. A total of 251 responses were collected in downtown Greenville, a tourist zone located in the heart of Greenville, SC, USA. Using multiple regression models and ANOVA, the study suggested that (1) economic impact was the most important predictor of residents’ attitudes towards tourism growth, (2) downtown residents were more favorable of tourism growth than county residents, and (3) Age and gender moderated the effect of proximity to a tourism center on residents’ attitudes towards tourism growth

DROP: Dynamics Responses from Human Motion Prior and Projective Dynamics

Synthesizing realistic human movements, dynamically responsive to the environment, is a long-standing objective in character animation, with applications in computer vision, sports, and healthcare, for motion prediction and data augmentation. Recent kinematics-based generative motion models offer impressive scalability in modeling extensive motion data, albeit without an interface to reason about and interact with physics. While simulator-in-the-loop learning approaches enable highly physically realistic behaviors, the challenges in training often affect scalability and adoption. We introduce DROP, a novel framework for modeling Dynamics Responses of humans using generative mOtion prior and Projective dynamics. DROP can be viewed as a highly stable, minimalist physics-based human simulator that interfaces with a kinematics-based generative motion prior. Utilizing projective dynamics, DROP allows flexible and simple integration of the learned motion prior as one of the projective energies, seamlessly incorporating control provided by the motion prior with Newtonian dynamics. Serving as a model-agnostic plug-in, DROP enables us to fully leverage recent advances in generative motion models for physics-based motion synthesis. We conduct extensive evaluations of our model across different motion tasks and various physical perturbations, demonstrating the scalability and diversity of responses.Comment: SIGGRAPH Asia 2023, Video https://youtu.be/tF5WW7qNMLI, Website: https://stanford-tml.github.io/drop

Boundary Regulation Processes and Privacy Concerns With (Non-)Use of Voice-Based Assistants

An exemplar of human-machine communication, voice-based assistants (VBAs) embedded in smartphones and smart speakers simplify everyday tasks while collecting significant data about users and their environment. In recent years, devices using VBAs have continued to add new features and collect more data—in potentially invasive ways. Using Communication Privacy Management theory as a guiding framework, we analyze data from 11 focus groups with 65 US adult VBA users and nonusers. Findings highlight differences in attitudes and concerns toward VBAs broadly and provide insights into how attitudes are influenced by device features. We conclude with considerations for how to address boundary regulation challenges inherent in human-machine interactions

Gapped Topological Kink States and Topological Corner States in Graphene

Based on the tight-binding model calculations and photonic experimental visualization on graphene, we report the domain-wall-induced gapped topological kink states and topological corner states. In graphene, domain walls with gapless topological kink states could be induced either by sublattice symmetry breaking or by lattice deformation. We find that the coexistence of these two mechanisms will induce domain walls with gapped topological kink states. Significantly, the intersection of these two types of domain wall gives rise to topological corner state localized at the crossing point. Through the manipulation of domain walls, we show graphene not only a versatile platform supporting multiple topological corner modes in a controlled manner, but also possessing promising applications such as fabricating topological quantum dots composed of gapped topological kink states and topological corner states.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, supplementary includ

Intelligent Personal Assistants and the Intercultural Negotiations of Dataveillance in Platformed Households

The platformization of households is increasingly possible with the introduction of intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) embedded in smart, always-listening speakers and screens, such as Google Home and the Amazon Echo. These devices exemplify Zuboff\u27s surveillance capitalism by commodifying familial and social spaces and funneling data into corporate networks. However, the motivations driving the development of these platforms-and the dataveillance they afford-vary: Amazon appears focused on collecting user data to drive personalized sales across its shopping platform, while Google relies on its vast dataveillance infrastructure to build its Al-driven targeted advertising platform. This paper draws on cross-cultural focus groups regarding IPAs in the Netherlands and the United States. It reveals how respondents in these two countries articulate divergent ways of negotiating the dataveiLlance affordances and privacy concerns of these IPA platforms. These findings suggest the need for a nuanced approach to combating and limiting the potential harms of these home devices, which may otherwise be seen as equivalents