The development of the Canadian Mobile Servicing System Kinematic Simulation Facility

Canada will develop a Mobile Servicing System (MSS) as its contribution to the U.S./International Space Station Freedom. Components of the MSS will include a remote manipulator (SSRMS), a Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), and a mobile base (MRS). In order to support requirements analysis and the evaluation of operational concepts related to the use of the MSS, a graphics based kinematic simulation/human-computer interface facility has been created. The facility consists of the following elements: (1) A two-dimensional graphics editor allowing the rapid development of virtual control stations; (2) Kinematic simulations of the space station remote manipulators (SSRMS and SPDM), and mobile base; and (3) A three-dimensional graphics model of the space station, MSS, orbiter, and payloads. These software elements combined with state of the art computer graphics hardware provide the capability to prototype MSS workstations, evaluate MSS operational capabilities, and investigate the human-computer interface in an interactive simulation environment. The graphics technology involved in the development and use of this facility is described

Investigations of solutions of Einstein's field equations close to lambda-Taub-NUT

We present investigations of a class of solutions of Einstein's field equations close to the family of lambda-Taub-NUT spacetimes. The studies are done using a numerical code introduced by the author elsewhere. One of the main technical complication is due to the S3-topology of the Cauchy surfaces. Complementing these numerical results with heuristic arguments, we are able to yield some first insights into the strong cosmic censorship issue and the conjectures by Belinskii, Khalatnikov, and Lifschitz in this class of spacetimes. In particular, the current investigations suggest that strong cosmic censorship holds in this class. We further identify open issues in our current approach and point to future research projects.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figures, uses psfrag and hyperref; replaced with published version, only minor corrections of typos and reference

Simple Max-Min Ant Systems and the Optimization of Linear Pseudo-Boolean Functions

With this paper, we contribute to the understanding of ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithms by formally analyzing their runtime behavior. We study simple MAX-MIN ant systems on the class of linear pseudo-Boolean functions defined on binary strings of length 'n'. Our investigations point out how the progress according to function values is stored in pheromone. We provide a general upper bound of O((n^3 \log n)/ \rho) for two ACO variants on all linear functions, where (\rho) determines the pheromone update strength. Furthermore, we show improved bounds for two well-known linear pseudo-Boolean functions called OneMax and BinVal and give additional insights using an experimental study.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figure

Few-Body States in Fermi-Systems and Condensation Phenomena

Residual interactions in many particle systems lead to strong correlations. A multitude of spectacular phenomenae in many particle systems are connected to correlation effects in such systems, e.g. pairing, superconductivity, superfluidity, Bose-Einstein condensation etc. Here we focus on few-body bound states in a many-body surrounding.Comment: 10 pages, proceedings 1st Asian-Pacific Few-Body Conference, needs fbssuppl.sty of Few-Body System

Evolutionary multiobjective optimization of the multi-location transshipment problem

We consider a multi-location inventory system where inventory choices at each location are centrally coordinated. Lateral transshipments are allowed as recourse actions within the same echelon in the inventory system to reduce costs and improve service level. However, this transshipment process usually causes undesirable lead times. In this paper, we propose a multiobjective model of the multi-location transshipment problem which addresses optimizing three conflicting objectives: (1) minimizing the aggregate expected cost, (2) maximizing the expected fill rate, and (3) minimizing the expected transshipment lead times. We apply an evolutionary multiobjective optimization approach using the strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm (SPEA2), to approximate the optimal Pareto front. Simulation with a wide choice of model parameters shows the different trades-off between the conflicting objectives

Preparation of zirconium from zirconium tetrafluoride

Increased interest in zirconium as a material of construction has resulted in numerous attempts to develop more economical processes for its production. Currently the Kroll Process, which reduces zirconium tetrachloride with magnesium, is used. A process developed at the Ames Laboratory of the Atomic Energy Commission involves the bomb reduction of zirconium tetrafluoride with calcium. By substituting magnesium for calcium, the cost of producing zirconium by this process might be considerably reduced

Dynamics of photoinduced Charge Density Wave-metal phase transition in K0.3MoO3

We present first systematic studies of the photoinduced phase transition from the ground charge density wave (CDW) state to the normal metallic (M) state in the prototype quasi-1D CDW system K0.3MoO3. Ultrafast non-thermal CDW melting is achieved at the absorbed energy density that corresponds to the electronic energy difference between the metallic and CDW states. The results imply that on the sub-picosecond timescale when melting and subsequent initial recovery of the electronic order takes place the lattice remains unperturbed.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett., accepted for publicatio

Separation of hafnium from zirconium using tributyl phosphate

The separation of hafnium from zirconium using tributyl phosphate offers interesting alternatives to present methods for making reactor-grade zirconium. Feed solution for the extraction step can be prepared from the reaction product of caustic and zircon sand. The purified zirconium can be converted into a variety of compounds, depending on the process chosen for reduction to the metal. It may be that future developments will show tributyl phosphate extraction to have advantages in new plants for the production of low-hafnium zirconium metal

Photoinduced melting of superconductivity in the high-Tc superconductor La2-xSrxCuO4 probed by time-resolved optical and THz techniques

Dynamics of depletion and recovery of superconducting state in La2-xSrxCuO_4 thin films is investigated utilizing optical pump-probe and optical pump - THz probe techniques as a function of temperature and excitation fluence. The absorbed energy density required to suppress superconductivity is found to be about 8 times higher than the thermodynamically determined condensation energy density and nearly temperature independent between 4 and 25 K. These findings indicate that during the time when superconducting state suppression takes place (~0.7 ps), a large part (nearly 90%) of the energy is transferred to the phonons with energy lower than twice the maximum value of of the SC gap and only 10% is spent on Cooper pair breaking.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Noisy Optimization: Convergence with a Fixed Number of Resamplings

It is known that evolution strategies in continuous domains might not converge in the presence of noise. It is also known that, under mild assumptions, and using an increasing number of resamplings, one can mitigate the effect of additive noise and recover convergence. We show new sufficient conditions for the convergence of an evolutionary algorithm with constant number of resamplings; in particular, we get fast rates (log-linear convergence) provided that the variance decreases around the optimum slightly faster than in the so-called multiplicative noise model. Keywords: Noisy optimization, evolutionary algorithm, theory.Comment: EvoStar (2014