1,995 research outputs found
Study of a Proposed Infrared Horizon Scanner for Use in Space-Orientation Control Systems
An attitude-sensing device for space vehicles which detects the thermal radiation discontinuity at opposite horizons of a planetary body to produce an attitude error signal is described. The planetary body may be the Earth, its Moon, Mars, or Venus. The sensor is expected to have an accuracy of 0.25 degrees for the Earth, a long continuous operating lifetime, a wide altitude range, a wide capture capability, and an inherent ability to produce signals indicating vehicle altitude. An experimental model incorporating many of the features of the proposed sensor indicates that the proposed sensor will be low in weight, volume, and power consumption. The sensor's altitude range, accuracy, lifetime, and sensitivity to radiation from the Moon and planets are discussed
EarthâMoonâMars Radiation Environment Module framework
[1] We are preparing to return humans to the Moon and setting the stage for exploration to Mars and beyond. However, it is unclear if long missions outside of low-Earth orbit can be accomplished with acceptable risk. The central objective of a new modeling project, the Earth-Moon-Mars Radiation Exposure Module (EMMREM), is to develop and validate a numerical module for characterizing time-dependent radiation exposure in the Earth-Moon-Mars and interplanetary space environments. EMMREM is being designed for broad use by researchers to predict radiation exposure by integrating over almost any incident particle distribution from interplanetary space. We detail here the overall structure of the EMMREM module and study the dose histories of the 2003 Halloween storm event and a June 2004 event. We show both the event histories measured at 1 AU and the evolution of these events at observer locations beyond 1 AU. The results are compared to observations at Ulysses. The model allows us to predict how the radiation environment evolves with radial distance from the Sun. The model comparison also suggests areas in which our understanding of the physics of particle propagation and energization needs to be improved to better forecast the radiation environment. Thus, we introduce the suite of EMMREM tools, which will be used to improve risk assessment models so that future human exploration missions can be adequately planned for
Microscopic Current Dynamics in Nanoscale Junctions
So far transport properties of nanoscale contacts have been mostly studied
within the static scattering approach. The electron dynamics and the transient
behavior of current flow, however, remain poorly understood. We present a
numerical study of microscopic current flow dynamics in nanoscale quantum point
contacts. We employ an approach that combines a microcanonical picture of
transport with time-dependent density-functional theory. We carry out atomic
and jellium model calculations to show that the time evolution of the current
flow exhibits several noteworthy features, such as nonlaminarity and edge flow.
We attribute these features to the interaction of the electron fluid with the
ionic lattice, to the existence of pressure gradients in the fluid, and to the
transient dynamical formation of surface charges at the nanocontact-electrode
interfaces. Our results suggest that quantum transport systems exhibit
hydrodynamical characteristics which resemble those of a classical liquid.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures; Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Discrete Morse functions for graph configuration spaces
We present an alternative application of discrete Morse theory for
two-particle graph configuration spaces. In contrast to previous constructions,
which are based on discrete Morse vector fields, our approach is through Morse
functions, which have a nice physical interpretation as two-body potentials
constructed from one-body potentials. We also give a brief introduction to
discrete Morse theory. Our motivation comes from the problem of quantum
statistics for particles on networks, for which generalized versions of anyon
statistics can appear.Comment: 26 page
Persistent Homology Over Directed Acyclic Graphs
We define persistent homology groups over any set of spaces which have
inclusions defined so that the corresponding directed graph between the spaces
is acyclic, as well as along any subgraph of this directed graph. This method
simultaneously generalizes standard persistent homology, zigzag persistence and
multidimensional persistence to arbitrary directed acyclic graphs, and it also
allows the study of more general families of topological spaces or point-cloud
data. We give an algorithm to compute the persistent homology groups
simultaneously for all subgraphs which contain a single source and a single
sink in arithmetic operations, where is the number of vertices in
the graph. We then demonstrate as an application of these tools a method to
overlay two distinct filtrations of the same underlying space, which allows us
to detect the most significant barcodes using considerably fewer points than
standard persistence.Comment: Revised versio
The Legacy of ERA, Privatization and the Policy Ratchet
This article explores the ways in which the neo-liberal impetus toward the privatization of state schooling signalled in the Education Reform Act 1988 (ERA) has become embedded in the English school system. Four main points are made. First, that ERA itself was of huge strategic rather than substantive importance as far as privatization is concerned. Second, by tracing the lineage of privatization from ERA onwards a 'ratchet' effect of small and incremental policy moves can be identified, which have disseminated, embedded and naturalized privatization within public sector provision. Third, that while privatization has been taken up and taken much further by New Labour than it had been by the Conservatives there are differences between the two sets of governments in the role of privatization in education policy and the role of the state. Fourth, the participation of private providers in the planning and delivery of state services has put the private sector at the very heart of policy. At points the article draws upon interviews conducted with private sector providers. © 2008 Sage Publications
The Theory of the Interleaving Distance on Multidimensional Persistence Modules
In 2009, Chazal et al. introduced -interleavings of persistence
modules. -interleavings induce a pseudometric on (isomorphism
classes of) persistence modules, the interleaving distance. The definitions of
-interleavings and generalize readily to multidimensional
persistence modules. In this paper, we develop the theory of multidimensional
interleavings, with a view towards applications to topological data analysis.
We present four main results. First, we show that on 1-D persistence modules,
is equal to the bottleneck distance . This result, which first
appeared in an earlier preprint of this paper, has since appeared in several
other places, and is now known as the isometry theorem. Second, we present a
characterization of the -interleaving relation on multidimensional
persistence modules. This expresses transparently the sense in which two
-interleaved modules are algebraically similar. Third, using this
characterization, we show that when we define our persistence modules over a
prime field, satisfies a universality property. This universality result
is the central result of the paper. It says that satisfies a stability
property generalizing one which is known to satisfy, and that in
addition, if is any other pseudometric on multidimensional persistence
modules satisfying the same stability property, then . We also show
that a variant of this universality result holds for , over arbitrary
fields. Finally, we show that restricts to a metric on isomorphism
classes of finitely presented multidimensional persistence modules.Comment: Major revision; exposition improved throughout. To appear in
Foundations of Computational Mathematics. 36 page
Area-charge inequality for black holes
The inequality between area and charge for dynamical black
holes is proved. No symmetry assumption is made and charged matter fields are
included. Extensions of this inequality are also proved for regions in the
spacetime which are not necessarily black hole boundaries.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figure
- âŠ