3,379 research outputs found
Interface familiarity restores active advantage in a virtual exploration and reconstruction task in children.
Active exploration is reportedly better than passive observation of spatial displacements in real environments, for the acquisition of relational spatial information, especially by children. However, a previous study using a virtual environment (VE) showed that children in a passive observation condition performed better than actives when asked to reconstruct in reality the environment explored virtually. Active children were unpractised in using the input device, which may have detracted from any active advantage, since input device operation may be regarded as a concurrent task, increasing cognitive load and spatial working memory demands. To examine this possibility, 7-8-year-old children in the present study were given 5 minutes of training with the joystick input device. When compared with passive participants for spatial learning, active participants gave a better performance than passives, placing objects significantly more accurately. The importance of interface training when using VEs for assessment and training was discussed
Harmonic Tidal Analysis of Long Time Series
A harmonic tided analysis program is developed for observational records of 18.61 years or longer. The amplitudes and phases of over five hundred astronomical and shallow water constituents are calculated using a least squares approach. The program is tested with 38 years of hourly observations at Victoria and the amplitudes and phases of satellite constituents whose amplitudes lie above the background noise level are generally found to be consistent with potential theory. Predictions based on the results of a 19-year analysis are found to be only slightly better than those based on averages from 19 one-year analyses, thereby confirming the accuracy of G odin’s [1972] satellite correction algorithm and satellite inference based on potential theory relationships. However it is demonstrated with constituents NO1, J1, N2, and L2, that results from the 38-year analysis can be used to improve the satellite inference calculations in shorter analyses. Based on the stability of the 38 one-year analyses, recommendations are also made for the inclusion of additional constituents in the standard prediction of tides at Victoria
A Search for New Physics with the BEACON Mission
The primary objective of the Beyond Einstein Advanced Coherent Optical
Network (BEACON) mission is a search for new physics beyond general relativity
by measuring the curvature of relativistic space-time around Earth. This
curvature is characterized by the Eddington parameter \gamma -- the most
fundamental relativistic gravity parameter and a direct measure for the
presence of new physical interactions. BEACON will achieve an accuracy of 1 x
10^{-9} in measuring the parameter \gamma, thereby going a factor of 30,000
beyond the present best result involving the Cassini spacecraft. Secondary
mission objectives include: (i) a direct measurement of the "frame-dragging"
and geodetic precessions in the Earth's rotational gravitomagnetic field, to
0.05% and 0.03% accuracy correspondingly, (ii) first measurement of gravity's
non-linear effects on light and corresponding 2nd order spatial metric's
effects to 0.01% accuracy. BEACON will lead to robust advances in tests of
fundamental physics -- this mission could discover a violation or extension of
general relativity and/or reveal the presence of an additional long range
interaction in physics. BEACON will provide crucial information to separate
modern scalar-tensor theories of gravity from general relativity, probe
possible ways for gravity quantization, and test modern theories of
cosmological evolution.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 2 table
Tidal energy in the Bering Sea
Tidal harmonics computed from TOPEX/POSEIDON altimetry are assimilated into a barotropic, finite element model of the Bering Sea whose accuracy is evaluated though comparisons with independent bottom pressure gauges. The model is used to estimate energy fluxes through each of the Aleutian Passes and Bering Strait and to construct an energy budget for the major tidal constituents. The finite element model does not conserve mass locally and this is shown to give rise to an additional term in the energy budget whose contribution is significant for the prior model, but which is reduced substantially with the assimilation technique. Though the M2 constituent is estimated to have the largest net energy flux into the Bering Sea at 31.2 GW, the K1 constituent is not far behind at 24.9 GW and the sum for the three largest diurnal constituents is found to be greater than the sum for the largest three semi-diurnals. Samalga and Amutka Passes are found to be the primary conduits for influx of semi-diurnal energy while Amchitka Pass is the primary conduit for diurnal energy. A significant portion of the diurnal energy is seen to exist in the form of continental shelf waves trapped along Bering Sea slopes.The effect of the 18.6-year nodal modulation is estimated and found to cause basin-wide variations of approximately 19% in the net incoming tidal energy flux. Larger variations in the dissipation occur in subregions that are strongly dominated by the diurnal constituents, such as Seguam Pass and south of Cape Navarin. These variations should correlate with tidal mixing and may have important consequences for biological productivity, similar to those previously found for Pacific halibut recruitment (Parker et al., 1995) and shrimp, capelin, herring, cod, and haddock biomass in the Barents Sea (Yndestad, 2004)
First-principles envelope-function theory for lattice-matched semiconductor heterostructures
In this paper a multi-band envelope-function Hamiltonian for lattice-matched
semiconductor heterostructures is derived from first-principles norm-conserving
pseudopotentials. The theory is applicable to isovalent or heterovalent
heterostructures with macroscopically neutral interfaces and no spontaneous
bulk polarization. The key assumption -- proved in earlier numerical studies --
is that the heterostructure can be treated as a weak perturbation with respect
to some periodic reference crystal, with the nonlinear response small in
comparison to the linear response. Quadratic response theory is then used in
conjunction with k.p perturbation theory to develop a multi-band effective-mass
Hamiltonian (for slowly varying envelope functions) in which all interface
band-mixing effects are determined by the linear response. To within terms of
the same order as the position dependence of the effective mass, the quadratic
response contributes only a bulk band offset term and an interface dipole term,
both of which are diagonal in the effective-mass Hamiltonian. Long-range
multipole Coulomb fields arise in quantum wires or dots, but have no
qualitative effect in two-dimensional systems beyond a dipole contribution to
the band offsets.Comment: 25 pages, no figures, RevTeX4; v3: final published versio
Choosing a basis that eliminates spurious solutions in k.p theory
A small change of basis in k.p theory yields a Kane-like Hamiltonian for the
conduction and valence bands of narrow-gap semiconductors that has no spurious
solutions, yet provides an accurate fit to all effective masses. The theory is
shown to work in superlattices by direct comparison with first-principles
density-functional calculations of the valence subband structure. A
reinterpretation of the standard data-fitting procedures used in k.p theory is
also proposed.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures; v3: expanded with much new materia
Accurate quadratic-response approximation for the self-consistent pseudopotential of semiconductor nanostructures
Quadratic-response theory is shown to provide a conceptually simple but
accurate approximation for the self-consistent one-electron potential of
semiconductor nanostructures. Numerical examples are presented for GaAs/AlAs
and InGaAs/InP (001) superlattices using the local-density approximation to
density-functional theory and norm-conserving pseudopotentials without
spin-orbit coupling. When the reference crystal is chosen to be the
virtual-crystal average of the two bulk constituents, the absolute error in the
quadratic-response potential for Gamma(15) valence electrons is about 2 meV for
GaAs/AlAs and 5 meV for InGaAs/InP. Low-order multipole expansions of the
electron density and potential response are shown to be accurate throughout a
small neighborhood of each reciprocal lattice vector, thus providing a further
simplification that is confirmed to be valid for slowly varying envelope
functions. Although the linear response is about an order of magnitude larger
than the quadratic response, the quadratic terms are important both
quantitatively (if an accuracy of better than a few tens of meV is desired) and
qualitatively (due to their different symmetry and long-range dipole effects).Comment: 16 pages, 20 figures; v2: new section on limitations of theor
Band structure of semimagnetic Hg1-yMnyTe quantum wells
The band structure of semimagnetic Hg_1-yMn_yTe/Hg_1-xCd_xTe type-III quantum
wells has been calculated using eight-band kp model in an envelope function
approach. Details of the band structure calculations are given for the Mn free
case (y=0). A mean field approach is used to take the influence of the sp-d
exchange interaction on the band structure of QW's with low Mn concentrations
into account. The calculated Landau level fan diagram and the density of states
of a Hg_0.98Mn_0.02Te/Hg_0.3Cd_0.7Te QW are in good agreement with recent
experimental transport observations. The model can be used to interpret the
mutual influence of the two-dimensional confinement and the sp-d exchange
interaction on the transport properties of Hg_1-yMn_yTe/Hg_1-xCd_xTe QW's.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Auger Recombination in Semiconductor Quantum Wells
The principal mechanisms of Auger recombination of nonequilibrium carriers in
semiconductor heterostructures with quantum wells are investigated. It is shown
for the first time that there exist three fundamentally different Auger
recombination mechanisms of (i) thresholdless, (ii) quasi-threshold, and (iii)
threshold types. The rate of the thresholdless Auger process depends on
temperature only slightly. The rate of the quasi-threshold Auger process
depends on temperature exponentially. However, its threshold energy essentially
varies with quantum well width and is close to zero for narrow quantum wells.
It is shown that the thresholdless and the quasi-threshold Auger processes
dominate in narrow quantum wells, while the threshold and the quasi-threshold
processes prevail in wide quantum wells. The limiting case of a
three-dimensional (3D)Auger process is reached for infinitely wide quantum
wells. The critical quantum well width is found at which the quasi-threshold
and threshold Auger processes merge into a single 3D Auger process. Also
studied is phonon-assisted Auger recombination in quantum wells. It is shown
that for narrow quantum wells the act of phonon emission becomes resonant,
which in turn increases substantially the coefficient of phonon-assisted Auger
recombination. Conditions are found under which the direct Auger process
dominates over the phonon-assisted Auger recombination at various temperatures
and quantum well widths.Comment: 38 pages, 7 figure
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