3,324 research outputs found
Coherent control of a nanomechanical two-level system
The Bloch sphere is a generic picture describing a coupled two-level system
and the coherent dynamics of its superposition states under control of
electromagnetic fields. It is commonly employed to visualise a broad variety of
phenomena ranging from spin ensembles and atoms to quantum dots and
superconducting circuits. The underlying Bloch equations describe the state
evolution of the two-level system and allow characterising both energy and
phase relaxation processes in a simple yet powerful manner.
Here we demonstrate the realisation of a nanomechanical two-level system
which is driven by radio frequency signals. It allows to extend the above Bloch
sphere formalism to nanoelectromechanical systems. Our realisation is based on
the two orthogonal fundamental flexural modes of a high quality factor
nanostring resonator which are strongly coupled by a dielectric gradient field.
Full Bloch sphere control is demonstrated via Rabi, Ramsey and Hahn echo
experiments. This allows manipulating the classical superposition state of the
coupled modes in amplitude and phase and enables deep insight into the
decoherence mechanisms of nanomechanical systems. We have determined the energy
relaxation time T1 and phase relaxation times T2 and T2*, and find them all to
be equal. This not only indicates that energy relaxation is the dominating
source of decoherence, but also demonstrates that reversible dephasing
processes are negligible in such collective mechanical modes. We thus conclude
that not only T1 but also T2 can be increased by engineering larger mechanical
quality factors. After a series of ground-breaking experiments on ground state
cooling and non-classical signatures of nanomechanical resonators in recent
years, this is of particular interest in the context of quantum information
processing
Signatures of two-level defects in the temperature-dependent damping of nanomechanical silicon nitride resonators
The damping rates of high quality factor nanomechanical resonators are well
beyond intrinsic limits. Here, we explore the underlying microscopic loss
mechanisms by investigating the temperature-dependent damping of the
fundamental and third harmonic transverse flexural mode of a doubly clamped
silicon nitride string. It exhibits characteristic maxima reminiscent of
two-level defects typical for amorphous materials. Coupling to those defects
relaxes the momentum selection rules, allowing energy transfer from discrete
long wavelength resonator modes to the high frequency phonon environment
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Evaluating LAB@FUTURE, a collaborative e-learning Laboratory experiments platform
This paper presents Lab@Future, an advanced e-learning platform that uses novel Information and Communication Technologies to support and expand laboratory teaching practices. For this purpose, Lab@Future uses real and computer generated objects that are interfaced using mechatronic systems, augmented reality, mobile technologies and 3D multi user environments. The main aim is to develop and demonstrate technological support for practical experiments in the following focused disciplines namely: Fluid Dynamics - Science subject in Germany, Geometry - Mathematics subject in Austria, History and Environmental Awareness – Arts and Humanities subjects in Greece and Slovenia. In order to pedagogically enhance the design and functional aspects of this e-learning technology, we are investigating the dialogical operationalisation of learning theories so as to leverage our understanding of teaching and learning practices in the targeted context of deployment. To be able to evaluate the lab@future system in its entire complexity an evaluation methodology including several phases has been developed, performing formative as well as summative evaluations
Turbofan mixed flow exhaust system
An improved exhaust system including a lobed mixer and an improved exhaust centerbody is provided. The improved exhaust centerbody includes means for cooperating with the lobed mixer to increase mixing effectiveness of the exhaust system without substantially increasing pressure losses attributable thereto. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cooperating means include a plurality of circumferentially spaced elongated deformations, such as grooves and ridges, which deformations extend radially with respect to a reference surface of the exhaust centerbody and which deformations are aligned in an axial direction substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the centerbody
Non-adiabatic dynamics of two strongly coupled nanomechanical resonator modes
The Landau-Zener transition is a fundamental concept for dynamical quantum
systems and has been studied in numerous fields of physics. Here we present a
classical mechanical model system exhibiting analogous behaviour using two
inversely tuneable, strongly coupled modes of the same nanomechanical beam
resonator. In the adiabatic limit, the anticrossing between the two modes is
observed and the coupling strength extracted. Sweeping an initialized mode
across the coupling region allows mapping of the progression from diabatic to
adiabatic transitions as a function of the sweep rate
Frequency and Q-factor control of nanomechanical resonators
We present an integrated scheme for dielectric drive and read-out of high-Q
nanomechanical resonators which enables tuning of both the resonance frequency
and quality factor with an applied DC voltage. A simple model for altering
these quantities is derived, incorporating the resonator's complex electric
polarizability and position in an inhomogeneous electric field, which agrees
very well with the experimental findings as well as FEM simulations. By
comparing two sample geometries we are able to show that careful electrode
design can determine the direction of frequency tuning of flexural in- and
out-of-plane modes of a string resonator. Furthermore we demonstrate that the
mechanical quality factor can be voltage reduced more than fivefold
High fidelity progressive reinforcement learning for agile maneuvering UAVs
In this work, we present a high fidelity model based progressive reinforcement learning method for control system design for an agile maneuvering UAV. Our work relies on a simulation-based training and testing environment for doing software-in-the-loop (SIL), hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and integrated flight testing within photo-realistic virtual reality (VR) environment. Through progressive learning with the high fidelity agent and environment models, the guidance and control policies build agile maneuvering based on fundamental control laws. First, we provide insight on development of high fidelity mathematical models using frequency domain system identification. These models are later used to design reinforcement learning based adaptive flight control laws allowing the vehicle to be controlled over a wide range of operating conditions covering model changes on operating conditions such as payload, voltage and damage to actuators and electronic speed controllers (ESCs). We later design outer flight guidance and control laws. Our current work and progress is summarized in this work
Efficient noninteractive certification of RSA moduli and beyond
In many applications, it is important to verify that an RSA public key (N; e) speci es a
permutation over the entire space ZN, in order to prevent attacks due to adversarially-generated
public keys. We design and implement a simple and e cient noninteractive zero-knowledge
protocol (in the random oracle model) for this task. Applications concerned about adversarial
key generation can just append our proof to the RSA public key without any other modi cations
to existing code or cryptographic libraries. Users need only perform a one-time veri cation of
the proof to ensure that raising to the power e is a permutation of the integers modulo N. For
typical parameter settings, the proof consists of nine integers modulo N; generating the proof
and verifying it both require about nine modular exponentiations.
We extend our results beyond RSA keys and also provide e cient noninteractive zero-
knowledge proofs for other properties of N, which can be used to certify that N is suitable
for the Paillier cryptosystem, is a product of two primes, or is a Blum integer. As compared to
the recent work of Auerbach and Poettering (PKC 2018), who provide two-message protocols for
similar languages, our protocols are more e cient and do not require interaction, which enables
a broader class of applications.https://eprint.iacr.org/2018/057First author draf
Evaluating pathway enumeration algorithms in metabolic engineering case studies
The design of cell factories for the production of compounds involves the search for suitable heterologous pathways. Different strategies have been proposed to infer such pathways, but most are optimization approaches with specific objective functions, not suited to enumerate multiple pathways. In this work, we analyze two pathway enumeration algorithms based on graph representations: the Solution Structure Generation and the Find Path algorithms. Both are capable of enumerating exhaustively multiple pathways using network topology. We study their capabilities and limitations when designing novel heterologous pathways, by applying these methods on two case studies of synthetic metabolic engineering related to the production of butanol and vanillin
Genetics and the Archaeology of Ancient Israel
This paper is a call for DNA testing on ancient skeletal materials from the southern Levant to begin to database genetic information of the inhabitants of this crossroads region. Archaeologists and biblical historians view the earliest presence in the region of a group that called itself Israel in the Iron I period, traditionally dated to ca. 1200-1000 BCE. These were in villages in the varied hill countries of the region, contemporary with urban settlements in the coastal plains, inland valleys, and central Hill Country attributed to varied indigenous groups collectively called Canaanite. The remnants of Egyptian imperial presence in the region lasted until around 1150 BCE, postdating the arrival of an immigrant group from the Aegean called the Philistines ca. 1175 BCE. The period that follows the Iron I in the southern Levant is marked by the development of territorial states throughout the region, ca. 1000-800 BCE. These patrimonial kingdoms, including the United Kingdom of Israel and the divided kingdoms of northern Israel and Judah, coalesced varied peoples under central leadership and newly founded administrative and religious bureaucracies. Ancient DNA testing will give us a further refined understanding of the individuals who peopled the region of the southern Levant throughout its varied archaeological and historic periods, and put forward scientific data that will support, refute, or nuance our socio-historic reconstruction of ancient group identities. These social identities may or may not map onto genetic data, and without sampling of ancient DNA we may never know. A database of ancient DNA will also allow for comparisons with modern DNA samples collected throughout the greater region and the Mediterranean littoral, giving a more robust understanding of the long historical trajectories of regional human genetics and the genetics of varied ancestral groups of today’s Jewish populations and other cultural groups in the modern Middle East and Mediterranean
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