8,458 research outputs found
Pursuit on a Graph Using Partial Information
The optimal control of a "blind" pursuer searching for an evader moving on a
road network and heading at a known speed toward a set of goal vertices is
considered. To aid the "blind" pursuer, certain roads in the network have been
instrumented with Unattended Ground Sensors (UGSs) that detect the evader's
passage. When the pursuer arrives at an instrumented node, the UGS therein
informs the pursuer if and when the evader visited the node. The pursuer's
motion is not restricted to the road network. In addition, the pursuer can
choose to wait/loiter for an arbitrary time at any UGS location/node. At time
0, the evader passes by an entry node on his way towards one of the exit nodes.
The pursuer also arrives at this entry node after some delay and is thus
informed about the presence of the intruder/evader in the network, whereupon
the chase is on - the pursuer is tasked with capturing the evader. Because the
pursuer is "blind", capture entails the pursuer and evader being collocated at
an UGS location. If this happens, the UGS is triggered and this information is
instantaneously relayed to the pursuer, thereby enabling capture. On the other
hand, if the evader reaches one of the exit nodes without being captured, he is
deemed to have escaped. We provide an algorithm that computes the maximum
initial delay at the entry node for which capture is guaranteed. The algorithm
also returns the corresponding optimal pursuit policy
The asymmetrical anthropocene: resilience and the limits of posthumanism
In this article we critique resilience’s oft-celebrated overcoming of modern liberal frameworks. We bring work on resilience in geography and cognate fields into conversation with explorations of the ‘asymmetrical Anthropocene’, an emerging body of thought which emphasizes human-nonhuman relational asymmetry. Despite their resonances, there has been little engagement between these two responses to the human/world binary. This is important for changing the terms of the policy debate: engaging resilience through the asymmetrical Anthropocene framing shines a different light upon policy discourses of adaptative management, locating resilience as a continuation of modernity’s anthropocentric will-to-govern. From this vantage point, resilience is problematic, neglecting the powers of nonhuman worlds that are not accessible or appropriable for governmental use. However, this is not necessarily grounds for pessimism. To conclude, we argue that human political agency is even more vital in an indeterminate world
Water exchange at a hydrated platinum electrode is rare and collective
We use molecular dynamics simulations to study the exchange kinetics of water
molecules at a model metal electrode surface -- exchange between water
molecules in the bulk liquid and water molecules bound to the metal. This
process is a rare event, with a mean residence time of a bound water of about
40 ns for the model we consider. With analysis borrowed from the techniques of
rare-event sampling, we show how this exchange or desorption is controlled by
(1) reorganization of the hydrogen bond network within the adlayer of bound
water molecules, and by (2) interfacial density fluctuations of the bulk liquid
adjacent to the adlayer. We define collective coordinates that describe the
desorption mechanism. Spatial and temporal correlations associated with a
single event extend over nanometers and tens of picoseconds.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Dynamics on the Way to Forming Glass: Bubbles in Space-time
We review a theoretical perspective of the dynamics of glass forming liquids
and the glass transition. It is a perspective we have developed with our
collaborators during this decade. It is based upon the structure of trajectory
space. This structure emerges from spatial correlations of dynamics that appear
in disordered systems as they approach non-ergodic or jammed states. It is
characterized in terms of dynamical heterogeneity, facilitation and excitation
lines. These features are associated with a newly discovered class of
non-equilibrium phase transitions. Equilibrium properties have little if
anything to do with it. The broken symmetries of these transitions are obscure
or absent in spatial structures, but they are vivid in space-time (i.e.,
trajectory space). In our view, the glass transition is an example of this
class of transitions. The basic ideas and principles we review were originally
developed through the analysis of idealized and abstract models. Nevertheless,
the central ideas are easily illustrated with reference to molecular dynamics
of more realistic atomistic models, and we use that illustrative approach here.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures. Submitted to Annu. Rev. Phys. Che
Io's radar properties
Arecibo 13 cm wavelength radar observations during 1987-90 have yielded echoes from Io on each of 11 dates. Whereas Voyager imaged parts of the satellite at resolutions of several km and various visible/infrared measurements have probed the surfaces's microscale properties, the radar data yield new information about the nature of the surface at cm to km scales. Our observations provide fairly thorough coverage and reveal significant heterogeneity in Io's radar properties. A figure is given showing sums of echo spectra from 11 dates
The application of the global isomorphism to the surface tension of the liquid-vapor interface of the Lennard-Jones fluids
In this communication we show that the surface tension of the real fluids of
the Lennard-Jones type can be obtained from the surface tension of the lattice
gas (Ising model) on the basis of the global isomorphism approach developed
earlier for the bulk properties.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Model of a fluid at small and large length scales and the hydrophobic effect
We present a statistical field theory to describe large length scale effects
induced by solutes in a cold and otherwise placid liquid. The theory divides
space into a cubic grid of cells. The side length of each cell is of the order
of the bulk correlation length of the bulk liquid. Large length scale states of
the cells are specified with an Ising variable. Finer length scale effects are
described with a Gaussian field, with mean and variance affected by both the
large length scale field and by the constraints imposed by solutes. In the
absence of solutes and corresponding constraints, integration over the Gaussian
field yields an effective lattice gas Hamiltonian for the large length scale
field. In the presence of solutes, the integration adds additional terms to
this Hamiltonian. We identify these terms analytically. They can provoke large
length scale effects, such as the formation of interfaces and depletion layers.
We apply our theory to compute the reversible work to form a bubble in liquid
water, as a function of the bubble radius. Comparison with molecular simulation
results for the same function indicates that the theory is reasonably accurate.
Importantly, simulating the large length scale field involves binary arithmetic
only. It thus provides a computationally convenient scheme to incorporate
explicit solvent dynamics and structure in simulation studies of large
molecular assemblies
Structure and thermodynamics of colloid-polymer mixtures: a macromolecular approach
The change of the structure of concentrated colloidal suspensions upon
addition of non-adsorbing polymer is studied within a two-component,
Ornstein-Zernicke based liquid state approach. The polymers' conformational
degrees of freedom are considered and excluded volume is enforced at the
segment level. The polymer correlation hole, depletion layer, and excess
chemical potentials are described in agreement with polymer physics theory in
contrast to models treating the macromolecules as effective spheres. Known
depletion attraction effects are recovered for low particle density, while at
higher densities novel many-body effects emerge which become dominant for large
polymers.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; to be published in Europhys. Let
- …