10,606 research outputs found
Unraveling quantum dissipation in the frequency domain
We present a quantum Monte Carlo method for solving the evolution of an open
quantum system. In our approach, the density operator evolution is unraveled in
the frequency domain. Significant advantages of this approach arise when the
frequency of each dissipative event conveys information about the state of the
system.Comment: 4 pages, 4 Postscript figures, uses RevTe
HST/STIS Imaging of the Host Galaxy of GRB980425/SN1998bw
We present HST/STIS observations of ESO 184-G82, the host galaxy of the
gamma-ray burst GRB 980425 associated with the peculiar Type Ic supernova
SN1998bw. ESO 184-G82 is found to be an actively star forming SBc sub-luminous
galaxy. We detect an object consistent with being a point source within the
astrometric uncertainty of 0.018 arcseconds of the position of the supernova.
The object is located inside a star-forming region and is at least one
magnitude brighter than expected for the supernova based on a simple
radioactive decay model. This implies either a significant flattening of the
light curve or a contribution from an underlying star cluster.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, AASTeX v5.02 accepted for publication in ApJ
Letter
A Persistent Simulation Environment for Autonomous Systems
The age of Autonomous Unmanned Aircraft Systems (AUAS) is creating new challenges for the accreditation and certification requiring new standards, policies and procedures that sanction whether a UAS is safe to fly. Establishing a basis for certification of autonomous systems via research into trust and trustworthiness is the focus of Autonomy Teaming and TRAjectories for Complex Trusted Operational Reliability (ATTRACTOR), a new NASA Convergent Aeronautics Solution (CAS) project. Simulation Environments to test and evaluate AUAS decision making may be a low-cost solution to help certify that various AUAS systems are trustworthy enough to be allowed to fly in current general and commercial aviation airspace. NASA is working to build a peer-to-peer persistent simulation (P3 Sim) environment. The P3 Sim will be a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) environment were AUAS avatars can interact with a complex dynamic environment and each other. The focus of the effort is to provide AUAS researchers a low-cost intuitive testing environment that will aid training for and assessment of decisions made by autonomous systems such as AUAS. This presentation focuses on the design approach and challenges faced in development of the P3 Sim Environment is support of investigating trustworthiness of autonomous systems
Millimeter wave satellite concepts, volume 1
The identification of technologies necessary for development of millimeter spectrum communication satellites was examined from a system point of view. Development of methodology based on the technical requirements of potential services that might be assigned to millimeter wave bands for identifying the viable and appropriate technologies for future NASA millimeter research and development programs, and testing of this methodology with selected user applications and services were the goals of the program. The entire communications network, both ground and space subsystems was studied. Cost, weight, and performance models for the subsystems, conceptual design for point-to-point and broadcast communications satellites, and analytic relationships between subsystem parameters and an overall link performance are discussed along with baseline conceptual systems, sensitivity studies, model adjustment analyses, identification of critical technologies and their risks, and brief research and development program scenarios for the technologies judged to be moderate or extensive risks. Identification of technologies for millimeter satellite communication systems, and assessment of the relative risks of these technologies, was accomplished through subsystem modeling and link optimization for both point-to-point and broadcast applications
Enhanced winnings in a mixed-ability population playing a minority game
We study a mixed population of adaptive agents with small and large memories,
competing in a minority game. If the agents are sufficiently adaptive, we find
that the average winnings per agent can exceed that obtainable in the
corresponding pure populations. In contrast to the pure population, the average
success rate of the large-memory agents can be greater than 50 percent. The
present results are not reproduced if the agents are fed a random history,
thereby demonstrating the importance of memory in this system.Comment: 9 pages Latex + 2 figure
Component masses of young, wide, non-magnetic white dwarf binaries in the SDSS DR7
We present a spectroscopic component analysis of 18 candidate young, wide,
non-magnetic, double-degenerate binaries identified from a search of the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (DR7). All but two pairings are likely to be
physical systems. We show SDSS J084952.47+471247.7 + SDSS J084952.87+471249.4
to be a wide DA+DB binary, only the second identified to date. Combining our
measurements for the components of 16 new binaries with results for three
similar, previously known systems within the DR7, we have constructed a mass
distribution for the largest sample to date (38) of white dwarfs in young,
wide, non-magnetic, double-degenerate pairings. This is broadly similar in form
to that of the isolated field population with a substantial peak around M~0.6
Msun. We identify an excess of ultra-massive white dwarfs and attribute this to
the primordial separation distribution of their progenitor systems peaking at
relatively larger values and the greater expansion of their binary orbits
during the final stages of stellar evolution. We exploit this mass distribution
to probe the origins of unusual types of degenerates, confirming a mild
preference for the progenitor systems of high-field-magnetic white dwarfs, at
least within these binaries, to be associated with early-type stars.
Additionally, we consider the 19 systems in the context of the stellar initial
mass-final mass relation. None appear to be strongly discordant with current
understanding of this relationship.Comment: 20 pages, 5 Tables, 7 figures. accepted for publication in MNRA
Quantized Vortex States of Strongly Interacting Bosons in a Rotating Optical Lattice
Bose gases in rotating optical lattices combine two important topics in
quantum physics: superfluid rotation and strong correlations. In this paper, we
examine square two-dimensional systems at zero temperature comprised of
strongly repulsive bosons with filling factors of less than one atom per
lattice site. The entry of vortices into the system is characterized by jumps
of 2 pi in the phase winding of the condensate wavefunction. A lattice of size
L X L can have at most L-1 quantized vortices in the lowest Bloch band. In
contrast to homogeneous systems, angular momentum is not a good quantum number
since the continuous rotational symmetry is broken by the lattice. Instead, a
quasi-angular momentum captures the discrete rotational symmetry of the system.
Energy level crossings indicative of quantum phase transitions are observed
when the quasi-angular momentum of the ground-state changes.Comment: 12 Pages, 13 Figures, Version
Resonance superfluidity in a quantum degenerate Fermi gas
We consider the superfluid phase transition that arises when a Feshbach
resonance pairing occurs in a dilute Fermi gas. We apply our theory to consider
a specific resonance in potassium-40, and find that for achievable experimental
conditions, the transition to a superfluid phase is possible at the high
critical temperature of about 0.5 T_F. Observation of superfluidity in this
regime would provide the opportunity to experimentally study the crossover from
the superfluid phase of weakly-coupled fermions to the Bose-Einstein
condensation of strongly-bound composite bosons.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
A microscopic quantum dynamics approach to the dilute condensed Bose gas
We derive quantum evolution equations for the dynamics of dilute condensed
Bose gases. The approach contains, at different orders of approximation, for
cases close to equilibrium, the Gross Pitaevskii equation and the first order
Hartree Fock Bogoliubov theory. The proposed approach is also suited for the
description of the dynamics of condensed gases which are far away from
equilibrium. As an example the scattering of two Bose condensates is discussed.Comment: 8 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Tangled Nature: A model of emergent structure and temporal mode among co-evolving agents
Understanding systems level behaviour of many interacting agents is
challenging in various ways, here we'll focus on the how the interaction
between components can lead to hierarchical structures with different types of
dynamics, or causations, at different levels. We use the Tangled Nature model
to discuss the co-evolutionary aspects connecting the microscopic level of the
individual to the macroscopic systems level. At the microscopic level the
individual agent may undergo evolutionary changes due to mutations of
strategies. The micro-dynamics always run at a constant rate. Nevertheless, the
system's level dynamics exhibit a completely different type of intermittent
abrupt dynamics where major upheavals keep throwing the system between
meta-stable configurations. These dramatic transitions are described by a
log-Poisson time statistics. The long time effect is a collectively adapted of
the ecological network. We discuss the ecological and macroevolutionary
consequences of the adaptive dynamics and briefly describe work using the
Tangled Nature framework to analyse problems in economics, sociology,
innovation and sustainabilityComment: Invited contribution to Focus on Complexity in European Journal of
Physics. 25 page, 1 figur
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