4,374 research outputs found
Dynamic analysis of pretwisted elastically-coupled rotor blades
The accuracy of using a one-dimensional analysis to predict frequencies of elastically-coupled highly-twisted rotor blades is addressed. Degrees of freedom associated with shear deformation are statically condensed from the formulation, so the analysis uses only those degrees of freedom associated with classical beam theory. The effects of cross section deformation (warping) are considered, and are shown to become significant for some types of elastic coupling. Improved results are demonstrated for highly-coupled blade structures through account of warping in a local cross section analysis, without explicit inclusion of these effects in the beam analysis. A convergence study is also provided which investigates the potential for improving efficiency of elastically-coupled beam analysis through implementation of a p-version beam finite element
Nonlocality as a Benchmark for Universal Quantum Computation in Ising Anyon Topological Quantum Computers
An obstacle affecting any proposal for a topological quantum computer based
on Ising anyons is that quasiparticle braiding can only implement a finite
(non-universal) set of quantum operations. The computational power of this
restricted set of operations (often called stabilizer operations) has been
studied in quantum information theory, and it is known that no
quantum-computational advantage can be obtained without the help of an
additional non-stabilizer operation. Similarly, a bipartite two-qubit system
based on Ising anyons cannot exhibit non-locality (in the sense of violating a
Bell inequality) when only topologically protected stabilizer operations are
performed. To produce correlations that cannot be described by a local hidden
variable model again requires the use of a non-stabilizer operation. Using
geometric techniques, we relate the sets of operations that enable universal
quantum computing (UQC) with those that enable violation of a Bell inequality.
Motivated by the fact that non-stabilizer operations are expected to be highly
imperfect, our aim is to provide a benchmark for identifying UQC-enabling
operations that is both experimentally practical and conceptually simple. We
show that any (noisy) single-qubit non-stabilizer operation that, together with
perfect stabilizer operations, enables violation of the simplest two-qubit Bell
inequality can also be used to enable UQC. This benchmarking requires finding
the expectation values of two distinct Pauli measurements on each qubit of a
bipartite system.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure
Followup Observations of SDSS and CRTS Candidate Cataclysmic Variables
We present photometry of 11 and spectroscopy of 35 potential cataclysmic
variables from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Catalina Real-Time Transient
Survey and vsnet-alerts. The photometry results include quasi-periodic
oscillations during the decline of V1363 Cyg, nightly accretion changes in the
likely Polar (AM Herculis binary) SDSS J1344+20, eclipses in SDSS J2141+05 with
an orbital period of 76+/-2 min, and possible eclipses in SDSS J2158+09 at an
orbital period near 100 min. Time-resolved spectra reveal short orbital periods
near 80 min for SDSS J0206+20, 85 min for SDSS J1502+33, and near 100 min for
CSS J0015+26, RXS J0150+37, SDSS J1132+62, SDSS J2154+15 and SDSS J2158+09. The
prominent HeII line and velocity amplitude of SDSS J2154+15 are consistent with
a Polar nature for this object, while the lack of this line and a low velocity
amplitude argue against this classification for RXS J0150+37. Single spectra of
10 objects were obtained near outburst and the rest near quiescence, confirming
the dwarf novae nature of these objects.Comment: 34 pages, 14 figures, in press at A
Chemical Defense of the Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens): Variation in Efficiency against Different Consumers and in Different Habitats
Amphibian secondary metabolites are well known chemically, but their ecological functions are poorly understood—even for well-studied species. For example, the eastern newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) is a well known secretor of tetrodotoxin (TTX), with this compound hypothesized to facilitate this salamander's coexistence with a variety of aquatic consumers across the eastern United States. However, this assumption of chemical defense is primarily based on observational data with low replication against only a few predator types. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that N. viridescens is chemically defended against co-occurring fishes, invertebrates, and amphibian generalist predators and that this defense confers high survivorship when newts are transplanted into both fish-containing and fishless habitats. We found that adult eastern newts were unpalatable to predatory fishes (Micropterus salmoides, Lepomis macrochirus) and a crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), but were readily consumed by bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus). The eggs and neonate larvae were also unpalatable to fish (L. macrochirus). Bioassay-guided fractionation confirmed that deterrence is chemical and that ecologically relevant concentrations of TTX would deter feeding. Despite predatory fishes rejecting eastern newts in laboratory assays, field experiments demonstrated that tethered newts suffered high rates of predation in fish-containing ponds. We suggest that this may be due to predation by amphibians (frogs) and reptiles (turtles) that co-occur with fishes rather than from fishes directly. Fishes suppress invertebrate consumers that prey on bullfrog larvae, leading to higher bullfrog densities in fish containing ponds and thus considerable consumption of newts due to bullfrog tolerance of newt chemical defenses. Amphibian chemical defenses, and consumer responses to them, may be more complex and indirect than previously appreciated
Bipartite entangled stabilizer mutually unbiased bases as maximum cliques of Cayley graphs
We examine the existence and structure of particular sets of mutually
unbiased bases (MUBs) in bipartite qudit systems. In contrast to well-known
power-of-prime MUB constructions, we restrict ourselves to using maximally
entangled stabilizer states as MUB vectors. Consequently, these bipartite
entangled stabilizer MUBs (BES MUBs) provide no local information, but are
sufficient and minimal for decomposing a wide variety of interesting operators
including (mixtures of) Jamiolkowski states, entanglement witnesses and more.
The problem of finding such BES MUBs can be mapped, in a natural way, to that
of finding maximum cliques in a family of Cayley graphs. Some relationships
with known power-of-prime MUB constructions are discussed, and observables for
BES MUBs are given explicitly in terms of Pauli operators.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur
HST Images Flash Ionization of Old Ejecta by the 2011 Eruption of Recurrent Nova T Pyxidis
T Pyxidis is the only recurrent nova surrounded by knots of material ejected
in previous outbursts. Following the eruption that began on 2011 April 14.29,
we obtained seven epochs (from 4 to 383 days after eruption) of Hubble Space
Telescope narrowband Ha images of T Pyx . The flash of radiation from the nova
event had no effect on the ejecta until at least 55 days after the eruption
began. Photoionization of hydrogen located north and south of the central star
was seen 132 days after the beginning of the eruption. That hydrogen recombined
in the following 51 days, allowing us to determine a hydrogen atom density of
at least 7e5 cm^-3 - at least an order of magnitude denser than the previously
detected, unresolved [NII] knots surrounding T Pyx. Material to the northwest
and southeast was photoionized between 132 and 183 days after the eruption
began. 99 days later that hydrogen had recombined. Both then (282 days after
outburst) and 101 days later, we detected almost no trace of hydrogen emission
around T Pyx. There is a large reservoir of previously unseen, cold diffuse
hydrogen overlapping the previously detected, [NII] - emitting knots of T Pyx
ejecta. The mass of this newly detected hydrogen is probably an order of
magnitude larger than that of the [NII] knots. We also determine that there is
no significant reservoir of undetected ejecta from the outer boundaries of the
previously detected ejecta out to about twice that distance, near the plane of
the sky. The lack of distant ejecta is consistent with the Schaefer et al
(2010) scenario for T Pyx, in which the star underwent its first eruption
within five years of 1866 after many millennia of quiescence, followed by the
six observed recurrent nova eruptions since 1890. This lack of distant ejecta
is not consistent with scenarios in which T Pyx has been erupting continuously
as a recurrent nova for many centuries or millennia.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figures, submitted to the Astrophysical Journa
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