4,356 research outputs found
Uncertainty Management for Rule-Based Decision Support Systems
We present an uncertainty management scheme in rule-based systems for decision making in the domain of urban infrastructure. Our aim is to help end users make informed decisions. Human reasoning is prone to a certain degree of uncertainty but domain experts frequently find it difficult to quantify this precisely, and thus prefer to use qualitative (rather than quantitative) confidence levels to support their reasoning. Secondly, there is uncertainty in data when it is not currently available (missing). In order to incorporate human-like reasoning within rule-based systems we use qualitative confidence levels chosen by domain experts in urban infrastructure. We introduce a mechanism for the representation of confidence of input facts and inference rules, and for the computation of confidence in the inferred facts. We also present a mechanism for computing inferences in the presence of missing facts, and their effect on the confidence of inferred facts
Factorizations of Elements in Noncommutative Rings: A Survey
We survey results on factorizations of non zero-divisors into atoms
(irreducible elements) in noncommutative rings. The point of view in this
survey is motivated by the commutative theory of non-unique factorizations.
Topics covered include unique factorization up to order and similarity, 2-firs,
and modular LCM domains, as well as UFRs and UFDs in the sense of Chatters and
Jordan and generalizations thereof. We recall arithmetical invariants for the
study of non-unique factorizations, and give transfer results for arithmetical
invariants in matrix rings, rings of triangular matrices, and classical maximal
orders as well as classical hereditary orders in central simple algebras over
global fields.Comment: 50 pages, comments welcom
Chandra X-ray Sources in the Collapsed-Core Globular Cluster M30 (NGC 7099)
We report the detection of six discrete, low-luminosity (Lx < 10^33 erg/s)
X-ray sources, located within 12 arcsec of the center of the collapsed-core
globular cluster M30 (NGC 7099), and a total of 13 sources within the half-mass
radius, from a 50 ksec Chandra ACIS-S exposure. Three sources lie within the
very small upper limit of 1.9 arcsec on the core radius. The brightest of the
three core sources has a luminosity of Lx (0.5-6 keV) = 6x10^32 erg/s and a
blackbody-like soft X-ray spectrum, which are both consistent with it being a
quiescent low-mass X-ray binary (qLMXB). We have identified optical
counterparts to four of the six central sources and a number of the outlying
sources, using deep Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based imaging. While the
two proposed counterparts that lie within the core may represent chance
superpositions, the two identified central sources that lie outside of the core
have X-ray and optical properties consistent with being CVs. Two additional
sources outside of the core have possible active binary counterparts. We
discuss the X-ray source population of M30 in light of its collapsed-core
status.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures (8 color), resubmitted to ApJ after
incorporating referee comment
Domino tilings and the six-vertex model at its free fermion point
At the free-fermion point, the six-vertex model with domain wall boundary
conditions (DWBC) can be related to the Aztec diamond, a domino tiling problem.
We study the mapping on the level of complete statistics for general domains
and boundary conditions. This is obtained by associating to both models a set
of non-intersecting lines in the Lindstroem-Gessel-Viennot (LGV) scheme. One of
the consequence for DWBC is that the boundaries of the ordered phases are
described by the Airy process in the thermodynamic limit.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure
The problem of political science and practical politics
Copyright @ 2006 The AuthorsWe reflect on the reasons why there is not a greater and more fruitful relationship between those who seek to understand policy and the political process from academia and those with a similar task in ‘practical politics’. We attribute this lack of engagement to three core factors: (1) from without, instrumental government visions of political science perpetuate the view that the discipline exists to serve those with power; (2) from within, scientism and abstraction diminish the discipline's stock of ‘usable’ product for ‘practical politics’; and (3) where relevant research exists, its uptake is hampered by limited communication between these spheres
Stellar Variability in the Globular Cluster Terzan 5
We present the results of a search for variability in and near the core of
the metal-rich, obscured globular cluster Terzan 5, using NICMOS on HST. This
extreme cluster has approximately solar metallicity and a central density that
places it in the upper few percent of all clusters. It is estimated to have the
highest interaction rate of any galactic globular cluster. The large extinction
towards Terzan 5 and the severe stellar crowding near the cluster center
present a substantial observational challenge. Using time series analysis we
discovered two variable stars in this cluster. The first is a RRab Lyrae
variable with a period of ~0.61 days, a longer period than that of field stars
with similar high metallicities. This period is, however, shorter than the
average periods of RR Lyraes found in the metal-rich globular clusters NGC
6441, NGC 6388 and 47 Tuc. The second variable is a blue star with a 7-hour
period sinusoidal variation and a likely orbital period of 14 hours. This star
is probably an eclipsing blue straggler, or (less likely) the infrared
counterpart to the low mass X-ray binary known in Terzan 5. Due to the extreme
crowding and overlapping Airy profile of the IR PSF, we fall short of our
original goal of detecting CVs via Palpha emission and detecting variable
infrared emission from the location of the binary MSP in Terzan 5.Comment: 17 pages including 12 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Peak reduction technique in commutative algebra
The "peak reduction" method is a powerful combinatorial technique with
applications in many different areas of mathematics as well as theoretical
computer science. It was introduced by Whitehead, a famous topologist and group
theorist, who used it to solve an important algorithmic problem concerning
automorphisms of a free group. Since then, this method was used to solve
numerous problems in group theory, topology, combinatorics, and probably in
some other areas as well.
In this paper, we give a survey of what seems to be the first applications of
the peak reduction technique in commutative algebra and affine algebraic
geometry.Comment: survey; 10 page
Zassenhaus conjecture for central extensions of S5
We confirm a conjecture of Zassenhaus about rational conjugacy of torsion units in
integral group rings for a covering group of the symmetric group S5 and for the general linear
group GLð2; 5Þ. The first result, together with others from the literature, settles the conjugacy
question for units of prime-power order in the integral group ring of a finite Frobenius group
The Blob Algebra and the Periodic Temperley-Lieb Algebra
We determine the structure of two variations on the Temperley-Lieb algebra,
both used for dealing with special kinds of boundary conditions in statistical
mechanics models.
The first is a new algebra, the `blob' algebra (the reason for the name will
become obvious shortly!). We determine both the generic and all the exceptional
structures for this two parameter algebra. The second is the periodic
Temperley-Lieb algebra. The generic structure and part of the exceptional
structure of this algebra have already been studied. Here we complete the
analysis, using results from the study of the blob algebra.Comment: 12 page
Algebraic arctic curves in the domain-wall six-vertex model
The arctic curve, i.e. the spatial curve separating ordered (or `frozen') and
disordered (or `temperate) regions, of the six-vertex model with domain wall
boundary conditions is discussed for the root-of-unity vertex weights. In these
cases the curve is described by algebraic equations which can be worked out
explicitly from the parametric solution for this curve. Some interesting
examples are discussed in detail. The upper bound on the maximal degree of the
equation in a generic root-of-unity case is obtained.Comment: 15 pages, no figures; v2: metadata correcte
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