Modern mechanisms make manless Martian mission mobile: Spin-off spells stairclimbing self-sufficiency for earthbound handicapped

Concepts were developed for three wheel chairs from progressively improving designs of a proposed unmanned roving vehicle for the surface exploration of Mars; as a spin-off, a concept for a stair-climbing wheel chair was generated. The mechanisms employed in these are described. The Mars mission is envisioned using the booster rockets and aeroshell of the Viking missions

Coherence creation in an optically thick medium by matched propagation of a chirped laser pulse pair

We consider the simultaneous propagation of a pair of Raman-resonant, frequency-modulated (chirped) laser pulses in an optically thick medium, modeled by an ensemble of $\Lambda$-atoms. A self-organization ('matching`) effect is shown for the chirped pulse pair, which leads to a quasi-lossless propagation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a well-defined coherent superposition of the atomic ground states and, correspondingly, a coherence is robustly created in the medium that can be controlled by amplitudes of the laser pulses. The proposed scheme can be applied to substantially increase the efficiency of the optical wave mixing processes, as well as in other nonlinear processes where the initial preparation of a spatially extended medium in a coherent superposition state is required

Is there a flavor hierarchy in the deconfinement transition of QCD?

We present possible indications for flavor separation during the QCD crossover transition based on continuum extrapolated lattice QCD calculations of higher order susceptibilities. We base our findings on flavor specific quantities in the light and strange quark sector. We propose a possible experimental verification of our prediction, based on the measurement of higher order moments of identified particle multiplicities. Since all our calculations are performed at zero baryochemical potential, these results are of particular relevance for the heavy ion program at the LHC.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, revte

Continuum EoS for QCD with Nf=2+1 flavors

We report on a continuum extrapolated result [arXiv:1309.5258] for the equation of state (EoS) of QCD with $N_f=2+1$ dynamical quark flavors. In this study, all systematics are controlled, quark masses are set to their physical values, and the continuum limit is taken using at least three lattice spacings corresponding to temporal extents up to $N_t=16$. A Symanzik improved gauge and stout-link improved staggered fermion action is used. Our results are available online [ancillary file to arXiv:1309.5258].Comment: Conference proceedings, 7 pages, 4 figures. Talk presented at 31st International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (LATTICE 2013), July 29 - August 3, 2013, Mainz, German

Integer Point Sets Minimizing Average Pairwise L1-Distance: What is the Optimal Shape of a Town?

An n-town, for a natural number n, is a group of n buildings, each occupying a distinct position on a 2-dimensional integer grid. If we measure the distance between two buildings along the axis-parallel street grid, then an n-town has optimal shape if the sum of all pairwise Manhattan distances is minimized. This problem has been studied for cities, i.e., the limiting case of very large n. For cities, it is known that the optimal shape can be described by a differential equation, for which no closed-form is known. We show that optimal n-towns can be computed in O(n^7.5) time. This is also practically useful, as it allows us to compute optimal solutions up to n=80.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Computational Geometry: Theory and Application

Static quark-antiquark pair free energy and screening masses: continuum results at the QCD physical point

We study the correlators of Polyakov loops, and the corresponding gauge invariant free energy of a static quark-antiquark pair in 2+1 flavor QCD at finite temperature. Our simulations were carried out on $N_t$ = 6, 8, 10, 12, 16 lattices using a Symanzik improved gauge action and a stout improved staggered action with physical quark masses. The free energies calculated from the Polyakov loop correlators are extrapolated to the continuum limit. For the free energies we use a two step renormalization procedure that only uses data at finite temperature. We also measure correlators with definite Euclidean time reversal and charge conjugation symmetry to extract two different screening masses, one in the magnetic, and one in the electric sector, to distinguish two different correlation lengths in the full Polyakov loop correlator. This conference contribution is based on the paper: JHEP 1504 (2015) 138Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Talk presented at the 33rd International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (Lattice 2015), 14-18 July 2015, Kobe International Conference Center, Kobe, Japa

Analysis and design of a capsule landing system and surface vehicle control system for Mars exploration

Problems related to the design and control of an autonomous rover for the purpose of unmanned exploration of the planets were considered. Building on the basis of prior studies, a four wheeled rover of unusual mobility and maneuverability was further refined and tested under both laboratory and field conditions. A second major effort was made to develop autonomous guidance. Path selection systems capable of dealing with relatively formidable hazard and terrains involving various short range (1.0-3.0 meters), hazard detection systems using a triangulation detection concept were simulated and evaluated. The mechanical/electronic systems required to implement such a scheme were constructed and tested. These systems include: laser transmitter, photodetectors, the necessary data handling/controlling systems and a scanning mast. In addition, a telemetry system to interface the vehicle, the off-board computer and a remote control module for operator intervention were developed. Software for the autonomous control concept was written. All of the systems required for complete autonomous control were shown to be satisfactory except for that portion of the software relating to the handling of interrupt commands