Field Driven Thermostated System : A Non-Linear Multi-Baker Map

In this paper, we discuss a simple model for a field driven, thermostated random walk that is constructed by a suitable generalization of a multi-baker map. The map is a usual multi-baker, but perturbed by a thermostated external field that has many of the properties of the fields used in systems with Gaussian thermostats. For small values of the driving field, the map is hyperbolic and has a unique SRB measure that we solve analytically to first order in the field parameter. We then compute the positive and negative Lyapunov exponents to second order and discuss their relation to the transport properties. For higher values of the parameter, this system becomes non-hyperbolic and posseses an attractive fixed point.Comment: 6 pages + 5 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Solar Orbiter: Exploring the Sun-heliosphere connection

The heliosphere represents a uniquely accessible domain of space, where fundamental physical processes common to solar, astrophysical and laboratory plasmas can be studied under conditions impossible to reproduce on Earth and unfeasible to observe from astronomical distances. Solar Orbiter, the first mission of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme, will address the central question of heliophysics: How does the Sun create and control the heliosphere? In this paper, we present the scientific goals of the mission and provide an overview of the mission implementation.Comment: 52 pages, 21 figures, 125 references; accepted for publication in Solar Physic

List decoding of noisy Reed-Muller-like codes

First- and second-order Reed-Muller (RM(1) and RM(2), respectively) codes are two fundamental error-correcting codes which arise in communication as well as in probabilistically-checkable proofs and learning. In this paper, we take the first steps toward extending the quick randomized decoding tools of RM(1) into the realm of quadratic binary and, equivalently, Z_4 codes. Our main algorithmic result is an extension of the RM(1) techniques from Goldreich-Levin and Kushilevitz-Mansour algorithms to the Hankel code, a code between RM(1) and RM(2). That is, given signal s of length N, we find a list that is a superset of all Hankel codewords phi with dot product to s at least (1/sqrt(k)) times the norm of s, in time polynomial in k and log(N). We also give a new and simple formulation of a known Kerdock code as a subcode of the Hankel code. As a corollary, we can list-decode Kerdock, too. Also, we get a quick algorithm for finding a sparse Kerdock approximation. That is, for k small compared with 1/sqrt{N} and for epsilon > 0, we find, in time polynomial in (k log(N)/epsilon), a k-Kerdock-term approximation s~ to s with Euclidean error at most the factor (1+epsilon+O(k^2/sqrt{N})) times that of the best such approximation

Fracture toughness and fatigue-crack propagation in a Zr–Ti–Ni–Cu–Be bulk metallic glass

The recent development of metallic alloy systems which can be processed with an amorphous structure over large dimensions, specifically to form metallic glasses at low cooling rates (similar to 10 K/s), has permitted novel measurements of important mechanical properties. These include, for example, fatigue-crack growth and fracture toughness behavior, representing the conditions governing the subcritical and critical propagation of cracks in these structures. In the present study, bulk plates of a Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 alloy, machined into 7 mm wide, 38 mm thick compact-tension specimens and fatigue precracked following standard procedures, revealed fracture toughnesses in the fully amorphous structure of K(lc)similar to 55 MPa root m, i.e., comparable with that of a high-strength steel or aluminum ahoy. However, partial and full crystallization, e.g., following thermal exposure at 633 K or more, was found to result in a drastic reduction in fracture toughness to similar to 1 MPa root m, i.e., comparable with silica glass. The fully amorphous alloy was also found to be susceptible to fatigue-crack growth under cyclic loading, with growth-rate properties comparable to that of ductile crystalline metallic alloys, such as high-strength steels or aluminum alloys; no such fatigue was seen in the partially or fully crystallized alloys which behaved like very brittle ceramics. Possible micromechanical mechanisms for such behavior are discussed

Nimbus 6 Random Access Measurement System applications experiments

The advantages of a technique in which data collection platforms randomly transmit signal to a polar orbiting satellite, thus eliminating satellite interrogation are demonstrated in investigations of the atmosphere; oceanographic parameters; Arctic regions and ice conditions; navigation and position location; and data buoy development

Algorithmic linear dimension reduction in the l_1 norm for sparse vectors

This paper develops a new method for recovering m-sparse signals that is simultaneously uniform and quick. We present a reconstruction algorithm whose run time, O(m log^2(m) log^2(d)), is sublinear in the length d of the signal. The reconstruction error is within a logarithmic factor (in m) of the optimal m-term approximation error in l_1. In particular, the algorithm recovers m-sparse signals perfectly and noisy signals are recovered with polylogarithmic distortion. Our algorithm makes O(m log^2 (d)) measurements, which is within a logarithmic factor of optimal. We also present a small-space implementation of the algorithm. These sketching techniques and the corresponding reconstruction algorithms provide an algorithmic dimension reduction in the l_1 norm. In particular, vectors of support m in dimension d can be linearly embedded into O(m log^2 d) dimensions with polylogarithmic distortion. We can reconstruct a vector from its low-dimensional sketch in time O(m log^2(m) log^2(d)). Furthermore, this reconstruction is stable and robust under small perturbations

The new bank capital adequacy standards

Bank capital ; Banks and banking

New evidence on the Fed's productivity in providing payments services

As the dominant provider of payments services, the efficiency with which the Federal Reserve provides such services in an important public policy issue. This paper examines the productivity of Federal Reserve check-processing offices during 1980-1999 using non-parametric estimation methods and newly developed methods for non-parametric inference and hypothesis testing. The results support prior studies that found little initial improvement in the Fed's efficiency with the imposition of pricing for Federal Reserve services in 1982. However, we find that median productivity improved substantially during the 1990s, and the dispersion across Fed offices declined.>Productivity ; Payment systems ; Check collection systems

Non-equilibrium Lorentz gas on a curved space

The periodic Lorentz gas with external field and iso-kinetic thermostat is equivalent, by conformal transformation, to a billiard with expanding phase-space and slightly distorted scatterers, for which the trajectories are straight lines. A further time rescaling allows to keep the speed constant in that new geometry. In the hyperbolic regime, the stationary state of this billiard is characterized by a phase-space contraction rate, equal to that of the iso-kinetic Lorentz gas. In contrast to the iso-kinetic Lorentz gas where phase-space contraction occurs in the bulk, the phase-space contraction rate here takes place at the periodic boundaries

Did Neoliberalizing West African Forests Produce a New Niche for Ebola?

A recent study introduced a vaccine that controls Ebola Makona, the Zaire ebolavirus variant that has infected 28,000 people in West Africa. We propose that even such successful advances are insufficient for many emergent diseases. We review work hypothesizing that Makona, phenotypically similar to much smaller outbreaks, emerged out of shifts in land use brought about by neoliberal economics. The epidemiological consequences demand a new science that explicitly addresses the foundational processes underlying multispecies health, including the deep-time histories, cultural infrastructure, and global economic geographies driving disease emergence. The approach, for instance, reverses the standard public health practice of segregating emergency responses and the structural context from which outbreaks originate. In Ebola's case, regional neoliberalism may affix the stochastic "friction" of ecological relationships imposed by the forest across populations, which, when above a threshold, keeps the virus from lining up transmission above replacement. Export-led logging, mining, and intensive agriculture may depress such functional noise, permitting novel spillovers larger forces of infection. Mature outbreaks, meanwhile, can continue to circulate even in the face of efficient vaccines. More research on these integral explanations is required, but the narrow albeit welcome success of the vaccine may be used to limit support of such a program.SCOPUS: re.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe