22,601 research outputs found
Using bijective maps to improve free energy estimates
We derive a fluctuation theorem for generalized work distributions, related
to bijective mappings of the phase spaces of two physical systems, and use it
to derive a two-sided constraint maximum likelihood estimator of their free
energy difference which uses samples from the equilibrium configurations of
both systems. As an application, we evaluate the chemical potential of a dense
Lennard-Jones fluid and study the construction and performance of suitable
maps.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figure
A probabilistic analysis of argument cogency
This paper offers a probabilistic treatment of the conditions for argument cogency as endorsed in informal logic: acceptability, relevance, and sufficiency. Treating a natural language argument as a reason-claim-complex, our analysis identifies content features of defeasible argument on which the RSA conditions depend, namely: change in the commitment to the reason, the reason’s sensitivity and selectivity to the claim, one’s prior commitment to the claim, and the contextually determined thresholds of acceptability for reasons and for claims. Results contrast with, and may indeed serve to correct, the informal understanding and applications of the RSA criteria concerning their conceptual dependence, their function as update-thresholds, and their status as obligatory rather than permissive norms, but also show how these formal and informal normative approachs can in fact align
Absolute rate coefficients for photorecombination of berylliumlike and boronlike silicon ions
We report measured rate coefficients for electron-ion recombination for Si10+
forming Si9+ and for Si9+ forming Si8+, respectively. The measurements were
performed using the electron-ion merged-beams technique at a heavy-ion storage
ring. Electron-ion collision energies ranged from 0 to 50 eV for Si9+ and from
0 to 2000 eV for Si10+, thus, extending previous measurements for Si10+ [Orban
et al. 2010, Astrophys. J. 721, 1603] to much higher energies. Experimentally
derived rate coefficients for the recombination of Si9+ and Si10+ ions in a
plasma are presented along with simple parameterizations. These rate
coefficients are useful for the modeling of the charge balance of silicon in
photoionized plasmas (Si9+ and Si10+) and in collisionally ionized plasmas
(Si10+ only). In the corresponding temperature ranges, the experimentally
derived rate coefficients agree with the latest corresponding theoretical
results within the experimental uncertainties.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, 66 references, submitted to the J.
Phys. B special issue on atomic and molecular data for astrophysicist
Marine bivalve geochemistry and shell ultrastructure from modern low pH environments
Abstract. Bivalve shells can provide excellent archives of past environmental change but have not been used to interpret ocean acidification events. We investigated carbon, oxygen and trace element records from different shell layers in the mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis (from the Mediterranean) and M. edulis (from the Wadden Sea) combined with detailed investigations of the shell ultrastructure. Mussels from the harbour of Ischia (Mediterranean, Italy) were transplanted and grown in water with mean pHT 7.3 and mean pHT 8.1 near CO2 vents on the east coast of the island of Ischia. The shells of transplanted mussels were compared with M. edulis collected at pH ~8.2 from Sylt (German Wadden Sea). Most prominently, the shells recorded the shock of transplantation, both in their shell ultrastructure, textural and geochemical record. Shell calcite, precipitated subsequently under acidified seawater responded to the pH gradient by an in part disturbed ultrastructure. Geochemical data from all test sites show a strong metabolic effect that exceeds the influence of the low-pH environment. These field experiments showed that care is needed when interpreting potential ocean acidification signals because various parameters affect shell chemistry and ultrastructure. Besides metabolic processes, seawater pH, factors such as salinity, water temperature, food availability and population density all affect the biogenic carbonate shell archive.</jats:p
Reachability in Parametric Interval Markov Chains using Constraints
Parametric Interval Markov Chains (pIMCs) are a specification formalism that
extend Markov Chains (MCs) and Interval Markov Chains (IMCs) by taking into
account imprecision in the transition probability values: transitions in pIMCs
are labeled with parametric intervals of probabilities. In this work, we study
the difference between pIMCs and other Markov Chain abstractions models and
investigate the two usual semantics for IMCs: once-and-for-all and
at-every-step. In particular, we prove that both semantics agree on the
maximal/minimal reachability probabilities of a given IMC. We then investigate
solutions to several parameter synthesis problems in the context of pIMCs --
consistency, qualitative reachability and quantitative reachability -- that
rely on constraint encodings. Finally, we propose a prototype implementation of
our constraint encodings with promising results
Coping with multiple enemies : pairwise interactions do not predict evolutionary change in complex multitrophic communities
Predicting the ecological and evolutionary trajectories of populations in multispecies communities is one of the fundamental challenges in ecology. Many of these predictions are made by scaling patterns observed from pairwise interactions. Here, we show that the coupling of ecological and evolutionary outcomes is likely to be weaker in increasingly complex communities due to greater chance of life-history trait correlations. Using model microbial communities comprising a focal bacterial species (Bacillus subtilis), a bacterial competitor, protist predator and phage parasite, we found that increasing the number of enemies in a community had an overall negative effect on B. subtilis population growth. However, only the competitor imposed direct selection for B. subtilis trait evolution in pairwise cultures and this effect was weakened in the presence of other antagonists that had a negative effect on the competitor. In contrast, adaptation to parasites was driven indirectly by correlated selection where competitors had a positive and predators a negative effect. For all measured traits, selection in pairwise communities was a poor predictor of B. subtilis evolution in more complex communities. Together, our results suggest that coupling of ecological and evolutionary outcomes is interaction-specific and weakly coupled in more complex communities. We conclude that understanding 2 the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms underpinning trait correlations is crucial to predict species response to global change in complex microbial communitie
Absolute rate coefficients for photorecombination and electron-impact ionization of magnesium-like iron ions from measurements at a heavy-ion storage ring
Rate coefficients for photorecombination (PR) and cross sections for
electron-impact ionization (EII) of Fe forming Fe and
Fe, respectively, have been measured by employing the electron-ion
merged-beams technique at a heavy-ion storage ring. Rate coefficients for PR
and EII of Fe ions in a plasma are derived from the experimental
measurements. Simple parametrizations of the experimentally derived plasma rate
coefficients are provided for use in the modeling of photoionized and
collisionally ionized plasmas. In the temperature ranges where Fe is
expected to form in such plasmas the latest theoretical rate coefficients of
Altun et al. [Astron. Astrophys. 474, 1051 (2007)] for PR and of Dere [Astron.
Astrophys. 466, 771 (2007)] for EII agree with the experimental results to
within the experimental uncertainties. Common features in the PR and EII
resonance structures are identified and discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, submitted for publication to Physical
Review
Parameter-Independent Strategies for pMDPs via POMDPs
Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) are a popular class of models suitable for
solving control decision problems in probabilistic reactive systems. We
consider parametric MDPs (pMDPs) that include parameters in some of the
transition probabilities to account for stochastic uncertainties of the
environment such as noise or input disturbances.
We study pMDPs with reachability objectives where the parameter values are
unknown and impossible to measure directly during execution, but there is a
probability distribution known over the parameter values. We study for the
first time computing parameter-independent strategies that are expectation
optimal, i.e., optimize the expected reachability probability under the
probability distribution over the parameters. We present an encoding of our
problem to partially observable MDPs (POMDPs), i.e., a reduction of our problem
to computing optimal strategies in POMDPs.
We evaluate our method experimentally on several benchmarks: a motivating
(repeated) learner model; a series of benchmarks of varying configurations of a
robot moving on a grid; and a consensus protocol.Comment: Extended version of a QEST 2018 pape
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