Full counting statistics of nano-electromechanical systems

We develop a theory for the full counting statistics (FCS) for a class of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), describable by a Markovian generalized master equation. The theory is applied to two specific examples of current interest: vibrating C60 molecules and quantum shuttles. We report a numerical evaluation of the first three cumulants for the C60-setup; for the quantum shuttle we use the third cumulant to substantiate that the giant enhancement in noise observed at the shuttling transition is due to a slow switching between two competing conduction channels. Especially the last example illustrates the power of the FCS.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures; minor changes - final version as published in Europhys. Let

Violation of Lee-Yang circle theorem for Ising phase transitions on complex networks

The Ising model on annealed complex networks with degree distribution decaying algebraically as $p(K)\sim K^{-\lambda}$ has a second-order phase transition at finite temperature if $\lambda> 3$. In the absence of space dimensionality, $\lambda$ controls the transition strength; mean-field theory applies for $\lambda >5$ but critical exponents are $\lambda$-dependent if $\lambda < 5$. Here we show that, as for regular lattices, the celebrated Lee-Yang circle theorem is obeyed for the former case. However, unlike on regular lattices where it is independent of dimensionality, the circle theorem fails on complex networks when $\lambda < 5$. We discuss the importance of this result for both theory and experiments on phase transitions and critical phenomena. We also investigate the finite-size scaling of Lee-Yang zeros in both regimes as well as the multiplicative logarithmic corrections which occur at $\lambda=5$.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Automatic Detection of Aircraft Emergency Landing Sites

An automatic landing site detection algorithm is proposed for aircraft emergency landing. Emergency landing is an unplanned event in response to emergency situations. If, as is unfortunately usually the case, there is no airstrip or airfield that can be reached by the un-powered aircraft, a crash landing or ditching has to be carried out. Identifying a safe landing site is critical to the survival of passengers and crew. Conventionally, the pilot chooses the landing site visually by looking at the terrain through the cockpit. The success of this vital decision greatly depends on the external environmental factors that can impair human vision, and on the pilot\u27s flight experience that can vary significantly among pilots. Therefore, we propose a robust, reliable and efficient algorithm that is expected to alleviate the negative impact of these factors. We present only the detection mechanism of the proposed algorithm and assume that the image enhancement for increased visibility, and image stitching for a larger field-of-view have already been performed on the images acquired by aircraft-mounted cameras. Specifically, we describe an elastic bound detection method which is designed to position the horizon. The terrain image is divided into non-overlapping blocks which are then clustered according to a roughness measure. Adjacent smooth blocks are merged to form potential landing sites whose dimensions are measured with principal component analysis and geometric transformations. If the dimensions of the candidate region exceed the minimum requirement for safe landing, the potential landing site is considered a safe candidate and highlighted on the human machine interface. At the end, the pilot makes the final decision by confirming one of the candidates, also considering other factors such as wind speed and wind direction, etc. Preliminary results show the feasibility of the proposed algorithm

Current-current correlations in hybrid superconducting and normal metal multiterminal structures

We consider a hybrid system consisting of two normal metal leads weakly connected to a superconductor. Current-current correlations of the normal leads are studied in the tunneling limit at subgap voltages and temperatures. We find that only two processes contribute to the cross-correlation: the crossed Andreev reflection (emission of electrons in different leads) and the elastic cotunneling. Both processes are possible due to the finite size of the Cooper pair. Noise measurements can thus be used to probe directly the superconducting wave function without the drawbacks appearing in average current measurements where the current is dominated by direct Andreev reflection processes. By tuning the voltages it is possible to change the sign of the cross correlation. Quantitative predictions are presented both in the diffusive and ballistic regimes.Comment: 7 pages, 2 Figure

Web-based multimodal graphs for visually impaired people

This paper describes the development and evaluation of Web-based multimodal graphs designed for visually impaired and blind people. The information in the graphs is conveyed to visually impaired people through haptic and audio channels. The motivation of this work is to address problems faced by visually impaired people in accessing graphical information on the Internet, particularly the common types of graphs for data visualization. In our work, line graphs, bar charts and pie charts are accessible through a force feedback device, the Logitech WingMan Force Feedback Mouse. Pre-recorded sound files are used to represent graph contents to users. In order to test the usability of the developed Web graphs, an evaluation was conducted with bar charts as the experimental platform. The results showed that the participants could successfully use the haptic and audio features to extract information from the Web graphs

Anisotropic transport for ν=2/5\nu=2/5 FQH state at intermediate magnetic field

The $\nu=2/5$ state is spin-unpolarized at weak magnetic field and fully polarized at strong field. At intermediate field, a plateau of half the maximal polarization is observed. We study this phenomenon in the frame of composite fermion theory. Due to the mixing of the composite fermion Landau levels, the unidirectional charge/spin density wave state of composite fermions is lower in energy than the Wigner crystal. It means that transport anisotropy, similar to those for electrons in higher Landau levels at half fillings, may take place at this fractional quantum Hall state when the external magnetic field is in an appropriate range. When the magnetic field is tilted an angle, the easy transport direction is perpendicular to the direction of the in-plane field. Varying the partial filling factor of composite fermion Landau level from 0 to 1, we find that the energy minimum occurs in the vicinity of one-half.Comment: 2 figure

Prospects for Establishment of Technological Complexes in Machine Building Industry on The Basis of Electromechatronic Propulsion Systems

The authors consider prospects for technological complex establishment in machine building industry on the basis of electromechatronic propulsion systems for production of innovative products with different novelty levels: world, state, brunch, region, etc

On electromagnetic interactions for massive mixed symmetry field

In this paper we investigate electromagnetic interactions for simplest massive mixed symmetry field. Using frame-like gauge invariant formulation we extend Fradkin-Vasiliev procedure, initially proposed for investigation of gravitational interactions for massless particles in AdS space, to the case of electromagnetic interactions for massive particles leaving in (A)dS space with arbitrary value of cosmological constant including flat Minkowski space. At first, as an illustration of general procedure, we re-derive our previous results on massive spin 2 electromagnetic interactions and then we apply this procedure to massive mixed symmetry field. These two cases are just the simplest representatives of two general class of fields, namely completely symmetric and mixed symmetry ones, and it is clear that the results obtained admit straightforward generalization to higher spins as well.Comment: 17 pages. Some clarifications added. Version to appear in JHE

Theory of battery ageing in a lithium-ion battery : capacity fade, nonlinear ageing and lifetime prediction

Forecasting the lifetime of Li-ion batteries is a critical challenge that limits the integration of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) into the automotive market. Cycle-life performance of Li-ion batteries is intrinsically linked to the fundamental understanding of ageing mechanisms. In contrast to most previous studies which utilise empirical trends (low real-time information) or rough simplifications on mathematical models to predict the lifetime of a Li-ion battery, we deployed a novel ageing formulation that includes heterogeneous dual-layer solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and lithium-plating ageing mechanisms with porosity evaluation. The proposed model is parameterized and optimized for mass transport and ageing parameters based on fresh and an aged cell and validated against our experimental results. We show that our advanced ageing mechanisms can accurately calculate experimentally observed cell voltage and capacity fade with respect to cycling number and can predict future fade for new operating scenarios based on constant-current and a dynamic power profile cycling experimental data consisting of high discharge C-rates and fast-charging periods. Our model is able to capture the linear and nonlinear (knee-point) capacity fade characteristics with a high accuracy of 98% goodness-of-fit-error and we compared our model performance with well-accepted existing model in literature

Aggregation number distributions and mesoglobules in dilute solutions of diblock and triblock copolymers

We investigate the aggregation number and size distributions for inter-molecular clusters of amphiphilic diblock and triblock copolymers in poor solvent at very low concentrations. Diblocks and triblocks with hydrophilic ends are shown to possess narrow distributions corresponding to formation of monodispersed mesoglobules. Diblocks with hydrophobic ends are found to produce inter-cluster multimers due to bridging by the hydrophilic middle blocks, resulting in polydisperse distributions. Implications of these observations for preparation of monodispersed nanoparticles and, potentially, understanding of the quaternary structure of proteins are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 PS figures. Accepted for publication in EP