2,750 research outputs found
Ion beam sputter etching and deposition of fluoropolymers
Fluoropolymer etching and deposition techniques including thermal evaporation, RF sputtering, plasma polymerization, and ion beam sputtering are reviewed. Etching and deposition mechanism and material characteristics are discussed. Ion beam sputter etch rates for polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) were determined as a function of ion energy, current density and ion beam power density. Peel strengths were measured for epoxy bonds to various ion beam sputtered fluoropolymers. Coefficients of static and dynamic friction were measured for fluoropolymers deposited from ion bombarded PTFE
A differential method for bounding the ground state energy
For a wide class of Hamiltonians, a novel method to obtain lower and upper
bounds for the lowest energy is presented. Unlike perturbative or variational
techniques, this method does not involve the computation of any integral (a
normalisation factor or a matrix element). It just requires the determination
of the absolute minimum and maximum in the whole configuration space of the
local energy associated with a normalisable trial function (the calculation of
the norm is not needed). After a general introduction, the method is applied to
three non-integrable systems: the asymmetric annular billiard, the many-body
spinless Coulombian problem, the hydrogen atom in a constant and uniform
magnetic field. Being more sensitive than the variational methods to any local
perturbation of the trial function, this method can used to systematically
improve the energy bounds with a local skilled analysis; an algorithm relying
on this method can therefore be constructed and an explicit example for a
one-dimensional problem is given.Comment: Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics
Toddler-Inspired Visual Object Learning
Real-world learning systems have practical limitations on the quality and quantity of the training datasets that they can collect and consider. How should a system go about choosing a subset of the possible training examples that still allows for learning accurate, generalizable models? To help address this question, we draw inspiration from a highly efficient practical learning system: the human child. Using head-mounted cameras, eye gaze trackers, and a model of foveated vision, we collected first-person (egocentric) images that represents a highly accurate approximation of the "training data" that toddlers' visual systems collect in everyday, naturalistic learning contexts. We used state-of-the-art computer vision learning models (convolutional neural networks) to help characterize the structure of these data, and found that child data produce significantly better object models than egocentric data experienced by adults in exactly the same environment. By using the CNNs as a modeling tool to investigate the properties of the child data that may enable this rapid learning, we found that child data exhibit a unique combination of quality and diversity, with not only many similar large, high-quality object views but also a greater number and diversity of rare views. This novel methodology of analyzing the visual "training data" used by children may not only reveal insights to improve machine learning, but also may suggest new experimental tools to better understand infant learning in developmental psychology
The Impact of Heterogeneity on Operator Performance in Future Unmanned Vehicle Systems
Recent studies have shown that with appropriate operator decision support
and with sufficient automation, inverting the multiple operators to
single-unmanned vehicle control paradigm is possible. These studies,
however, have generally focused on homogeneous teams of vehicles, and
have not completely addressed either the manifestation of heterogeneity
in vehicle teams, or the effects of heterogeneity on operator capacity.
An important implication of heterogeneity in unmanned vehicle teams
is an increase in the diversity of possible team configurations available
for each operator, as well as an increase in the diversity of possible attention
allocation schemes that can be utilized by operators. To this end, this
paper introduces a discrete event simulation (DES) model as a means to
model a single operator supervising multiple heterogeneous unmanned
vehicles. The DES model can be used to understand the impact of varying
both vehicle team design variables (such as team composition) and
operator design variables (including attention allocation strategies). The
model also highlights the sub-components of operator attention allocation
schemes that can impact overall performance when supervising heterogeneous unmanned vehicle teams. Results from an experimental case study are then used to validate the model, and make predictions about operator performance for various heterogeneous team configurations.The research was supported by Charles River Analytics, the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Dynamical response of the "GGG" rotor to test the Equivalence Principle: theory, simulation and experiment. Part I: the normal modes
Recent theoretical work suggests that violation of the Equivalence Principle
might be revealed in a measurement of the fractional differential acceleration
between two test bodies -of different composition, falling in the
gravitational field of a source mass- if the measurement is made to the level
of or better. This being within the reach of ground based
experiments, gives them a new impetus. However, while slowly rotating torsion
balances in ground laboratories are close to reaching this level, only an
experiment performed in low orbit around the Earth is likely to provide a much
better accuracy.
We report on the progress made with the "Galileo Galilei on the Ground" (GGG)
experiment, which aims to compete with torsion balances using an instrument
design also capable of being converted into a much higher sensitivity space
test.
In the present and following paper (Part I and Part II), we demonstrate that
the dynamical response of the GGG differential accelerometer set into
supercritical rotation -in particular its normal modes (Part I) and rejection
of common mode effects (Part II)- can be predicted by means of a simple but
effective model that embodies all the relevant physics. Analytical solutions
are obtained under special limits, which provide the theoretical understanding.
A simulation environment is set up, obtaining quantitative agreement with the
available experimental data on the frequencies of the normal modes, and on the
whirling behavior. This is a needed and reliable tool for controlling and
separating perturbative effects from the expected signal, as well as for
planning the optimization of the apparatus.Comment: Accepted for publication by "Review of Scientific Instruments" on Jan
16, 2006. 16 2-column pages, 9 figure
Experimental mathematics on the magnetic susceptibility of the square lattice Ising model
We calculate very long low- and high-temperature series for the
susceptibility of the square lattice Ising model as well as very long
series for the five-particle contribution and six-particle
contribution . These calculations have been made possible by the
use of highly optimized polynomial time modular algorithms and a total of more
than 150000 CPU hours on computer clusters. For 10000 terms of the
series are calculated {\it modulo} a single prime, and have been used to find
the linear ODE satisfied by {\it modulo} a prime.
A diff-Pad\'e analysis of 2000 terms series for and
confirms to a very high degree of confidence previous conjectures about the
location and strength of the singularities of the -particle components of
the susceptibility, up to a small set of ``additional'' singularities. We find
the presence of singularities at for the linear ODE of ,
and for the ODE of , which are {\it not} singularities
of the ``physical'' and that is to say the
series-solutions of the ODE's which are analytic at .
Furthermore, analysis of the long series for (and )
combined with the corresponding long series for the full susceptibility
yields previously conjectured singularities in some , .
We also present a mechanism of resummation of the logarithmic singularities
of the leading to the known power-law critical behaviour occurring
in the full , and perform a power spectrum analysis giving strong
arguments in favor of the existence of a natural boundary for the full
susceptibility .Comment: 54 pages, 2 figure
Different processes lead to similar patterns: a test of codivergence and the role of sea level and climate changes in shaping a southern temperate freshwater assemblage
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Understanding how freshwater assemblages have been formed and maintained is a fundamental goal in evolutionary and ecological disciplines. Here we use a historical approach to test the hypothesis of codivergence in three clades of the Chilean freshwater species assemblage. Molecular studies of freshwater crabs (<it>Aegla</it>: Aeglidae: Anomura) and catfish (<it>Trichomycterus arealatus</it>: Trichomycteridae: Teleostei) exhibited similar levels of genetic divergences of mitochondrial lineages between species of crabs and phylogroups of the catfish, suggesting a shared evolutionary history among the three clades in this species assemblage.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A phylogeny was constructed for <it>Trichomycterus areolatus </it>under the following best-fit molecular models of evolution GTR + I + R, HKY + I, and HKY for cytochrome <it>b</it>, growth hormone, and rag 1 respectively. A GTR + I + R model provided the best fit for both 28S and mitochondrial loci and was used to construct both <it>Aegla </it>phylogenies. Three different diversification models were observed and the three groups arose during different time periods, from 2.25 to 5.05 million years ago (Ma). Cladogenesis within <it>Trichomycterus areolatus </it>was initiated roughly 2.25 Ma (Late Pliocene - Early Pleistocene) some 1.7 - 2.8 million years after the basal divergences observed in both <it>Aegla </it>clades. These results reject the hypothesis of codivergence.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The similar genetic distances between terminal sister-lineages observed in these select taxa from the freshwater Chilean species assemblage were formed by different processes occurring over the last ~5.0 Ma. Dramatic changes in historic sea levels documented in the region appear to have independently shaped the evolutionary history of each group. Our study illustrates the important role that history plays in shaping a species assemblage and argues against assuming similar patterns equal a shared evolutionary history.</p
Limits to mode-localized sensing using micro- and nanomechanical resonator arrays
In recent years, the concept of utilizing the phenomenon of vibration mode-localization as a paradigm of mechanical sensing has made profound impact in the design and development of highly sensitive micro- and nanomechanical sensors. Unprecedented enhancements in sensor response exceeding three orders of magnitude relative to the more conventional resonant frequency shift based technique have been both theoretically and experimentally demonstrated using this new sensing approach. However, the ultimate limits of detection and in consequence, the minimum attainable resolution in such mode-localized sensors still remain uncertain. This paper aims to fill this gap by investigating the limits to sensitivity enhancement imposed on such sensors, by some of the fundamental physical noise processes, the bandwidth of operation and the noise from the electronic interfacial circuits. Our analyses indicate that such mode-localized sensors offer tremendous potential for highly sensitive mass and stiffness detection with ultimate resolutions that may be orders of magnitude better than most conventional micro- and nanomechanical resonant sensors
Binomial coefficients, Catalan numbers and Lucas quotients
Let be an odd prime and let be integers with and . In this paper we determine
mod for ; for example,
where is the Jacobi symbol, and is the Lucas
sequence given by , and for
. As an application, we determine modulo for any integer , where denotes the
Catalan number . We also pose some related conjectures.Comment: 24 pages. Correct few typo
Viscosity solutions of systems of PDEs with interconnected obstacles and Multi modes switching problems
This paper deals with existence and uniqueness, in viscosity sense, of a
solution for a system of m variational partial differential inequalities with
inter-connected obstacles. A particular case of this system is the
deterministic version of the Verification Theorem of the Markovian optimal
m-states switching problem. The switching cost functions are arbitrary. This
problem is connected with the valuation of a power plant in the energy market.
The main tool is the notion of systems of reflected BSDEs with oblique
reflection.Comment: 36 page
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