11,302 research outputs found
Schur functions and their realizations in the slice hyperholomorphic setting
we start the study of Schur analysis in the quaternionic setting using the
theory of slice hyperholomorphic functions. The novelty of our approach is that
slice hyperholomorphic functions allows to write realizations in terms of a
suitable resolvent, the so called S-resolvent operator and to extend several
results that hold in the complex case to the quaternionic case. We discuss
reproducing kernels, positive definite functions in this setting and we show
how they can be obtained in our setting using the extension operator and the
slice regular product. We define Schur multipliers, and find their co-isometric
realization in terms of the associated de Branges-Rovnyak space
Anharmonicity and self-similarity of the free energy landscape of protein G
The near-native free energy landscape of protein G is investigated through
0.4 microseconds-long atomistic molecular dynamics simulations in explicit
solvent. A theoretical and computational framework is used to assess the
time-dependence of salient thermodynamical features. While the quasi-harmonic
character of the free energy is found to degrade in a few ns, the slow modes
display a very mild dependence on the trajectory duration. This property
originates from a striking self-similarity of the free energy landscape
embodied by the consistency of the principal directions of the local minima,
where the system dwells for several ns, and of the virtual jumps connecting
them.Comment: revtex, 6 pages, 5 figure
Semi-autonomous Intersection Collision Avoidance through Job-shop Scheduling
In this paper, we design a supervisor to prevent vehicle collisions at
intersections. An intersection is modeled as an area containing multiple
conflict points where vehicle paths cross in the future. At every time step,
the supervisor determines whether there will be more than one vehicle in the
vicinity of a conflict point at the same time. If there is, then an impending
collision is detected, and the supervisor overrides the drivers to avoid
collision. A major challenge in the design of a supervisor as opposed to an
autonomous vehicle controller is to verify whether future collisions will occur
based on the current drivers choices. This verification problem is particularly
hard due to the large number of vehicles often involved in intersection
collision, to the multitude of conflict points, and to the vehicles dynamics.
In order to solve the verification problem, we translate the problem to a
job-shop scheduling problem that yields equivalent answers. The job-shop
scheduling problem can, in turn, be transformed into a mixed-integer linear
program when the vehicle dynamics are first-order dynamics, and can thus be
solved by using a commercial solver.Comment: Submitted to Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control (HSCC) 201
Elastic properties of hydrogenated graphene
There exist three conformers of hydrogenated graphene, referred to as chair-,
boat-, or washboard-graphane. These systems have a perfect two-dimensional
periodicity mapped onto the graphene scaffold, but they are characterized by a
orbital hybridization, have different crystal symmetry, and otherwise
behave upon loading. By first principles calculations we determine their
structural and phonon properties, as well as we establish their relative
stability. Through continuum elasticity we define a simulation protocol
addressed to measure by a computer experiment their linear and nonlinear
elastic moduli and we actually compute them by first principles. We argue that
all graphane conformers respond to any arbitrarily-oriented extention with a
much smaller lateral contraction than the one calculated for graphene.
Furthermore, we provide evidence that boat-graphane has a small and negative
Poisson ratio along the armchair and zigzag principal directions of the carbon
honeycomb lattice (axially auxetic elastic behavior). Moreover, we show that
chair-graphane admits both softening and hardening hyperelasticity, depending
on the direction of applied load.Comment: submitted on Phys.Rev.
Electrochromic orbit control for smart-dust devices
Recent advances in MEMS (micro electromechanical systems) technology are leading to spacecraft which are the shape and size of computer chips, so-called SpaceChips, or ‘smart dust devices’. These devices can offer highly distributed sensing when used in future swarm applications. However, they currently lack a feasible strategy for active orbit control. This paper proposes an orbit control methodology for future SpaceChip devices which is based on exploiting the effects of solar radiation pressure using electrochromic coatings. The concept presented makes use of the high area-to-mass ratio of these devices, and consequently the large force exerted upon them by solar radiation pressure, to control their orbit evolution by altering their surface optical properties. The orbital evolution of Space Chips due to solar radiation pressure can be represented by a Hamiltonian system, allowing an analytic development of the control methodology. The motion in the orbital element phase space resembles that of a linear oscillator, which is used to formulate a switching control law. Additional perturbations and the effect of eclipses are accounted for by modifying the linearized equations of the secular change in orbital elements around an equilibrium point in the phase space of the problem. Finally, the effectiveness of the method is demonstrated in a test case scenario
Orbital dynamics of "smart dust" devices with solar radiation pressure and drag
This paper investigates how perturbations due to asymmetric solar radiation pressure, in the presence of Earth shadow, and atmospheric drag can be balanced to obtain long-lived Earth centred orbits for swarms of micro-scale 'smart dust' devices, without the use of active control. The secular variation of Keplerian elements is expressed analytically through an averaging technique. Families of solutions are then identified where Sun-synchronous apse-line precession is achieved passively to maintain asymmetric solar radiation pressure. The long-term orbit evolution is characterized by librational motion, progressively decaying due to the non-conservative effect of atmospheric drag. Long-lived orbits can then be designed through the interaction of energy gain from asymmetric solar radiation pressure and energy dissipation due to drag. In this way, the usual short drag lifetime of such high area-to-mass spacecraft can be greatly extended (and indeed selected). In addition, the effect of atmospheric drag can be exploited to ensure the rapid end-of-life decay of such devices, thus preventing long-lived orbit debris
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Detecting compositional changes in dielectric materials simulated by three-dimensional RC network models
This work discusses the detection of small compositional changes in materials that have microstructures containing conducting and dielectric phases, which can be described by networks of resistive (R) and capacitive (C) components in a three-dimensional lattice. For this purpose, a principal component analysis (PCA) method is employed to discriminate normal samples from samples with altered composition on the basis of statistics extracted from the waveform of the network response to a given excitation. This approach obviates the requirement for multivariate regression and simplifies experimental workload for model-building, since only data from normal samples are required in the development of the PCA model. Waveform variability of the excitation source is also accounted for through the use of a nominal model derived using subspace identification. This enables standardization and software based metrology transfer across different labs. The effect of network size on the capability of detecting minute compositional changes was assessed. For networks of 520 components, it was possible to identify changes in the fraction of capacitors down to 10-2 at 2 sigma confidence levels
BioFET-SIM Web Interface: Implementation and Two Applications
We present a web interface for the BioFET-SIM program. The web interface
allows to conveniently setup calculations based on the BioFET-SIM multiple
charges model. As an illustration, two case studies are presented. In the first
case, a generic peptide with opposite charges on both ends is inverted in
orientation on a semiconducting nanowire surface leading to a corresponding
change in sign of the computed sensitivity of the device. In the second case,
the binding of an antibody/antigen complex on the nanowire surface is studied
in terms of orientation and analyte/nanowire surface distance. We demonstrate
how the BioFET-SIM web interface can aid in the understanding of experimental
data and postulate alternative ways of antibody/antigen orientation on the
nanowire surface
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