17,677 research outputs found
Study of abrasive techniques for lunar and planetary solid rock geological sampling
Abrasive techniques for lunar and planetary geological samplin
Continuous measurement of shock velocity using a microwave technique
Microwave technique for continuous measurement of shock wave velocit
The Refractory-to-Ice Mass Ratio in Comets
We review the complex relationship between the dust-to-gas mass ratio usually estimated in the material lost by comets, and the Refractory-to-Ice mass ratio inside the nucleus, which constrains the origin of comets. Such a relationship is dominated by the mass transfer from the perihelion erosion to fallout over most of the nucleus surface. This makes the Refractory-to-Ice mass ratio inside the nucleus up to ten times larger than the dust-to-gas mass ratio in the lost material, because the lost material is missing most of the refractories which were inside the pristine nucleus before the erosion. We review the Refractory-to-Ice mass ratios available for the comet nuclei visited by space missions, and for the Kuiper Belt Objects with well defined bulk density, finding the 1-σ lower limit of 3. Therefore, comets and KBOs may have less water than CI-chondrites, as predicted by models of comet formation by the gravitational collapse of cm-sized pebbles driven by streaming instabilities in the protoplanetary disc
Construct, Merge, Solve and Adapt: Application to the repetition-free longest common subsequence problem
In this paper we present the application of a recently proposed, general, algorithm for combinatorial optimization to the repetition-free longest common subsequence problem. The applied algorithm, which is labelled Construct, Merge, Solve & Adapt, generates sub-instances based on merging the solution components found in randomly constructed solutions. These sub-instances are subsequently solved by means of an exact solver. Moreover, the considered sub-instances are dynamically changing due to adding new solution components at each iteration, and removing existing solution components on the basis of indicators about their usefulness. The results of applying this algorithm to the repetition-free longest common subsequence problem show that the algorithm generally outperforms competing approaches from the literature. Moreover, they show that the algorithm is competitive with CPLEX for small and medium size problem instances, whereas it outperforms CPLEX for larger problem instances.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Conclusions and perspectives: Perspectives for future research-and-development projects on biological
The review of published scientific literature on the biological control of selected pests and diseases has lead to the identification of clear knowledge gaps highlighted in previous chapters. Further bottlenecks were revealed by seeking the possible reasons for the striking discrepancy between the rich inventory of potential biocontrol agents described by scientists and a very small number of commercial products on the market. To complement these analyses, the participants of Research Activity 4.3 of the European Network ENDURE organized consultations of experts (scientists, extension specialists and representatives of the Biocontrol industry) at the occasion of scientific meetings of three Working Groups of IOBC-wpr
Thermophysical properties of near-Earth asteroid (341843) 2008 EV5 from WISE data
Aims. To derive the thermal inertia of 2008 EV, the baseline target for
the Marco Polo-R mission proposal, and infer information about the size of the
particles on its surface. Methods. Values of thermal inertia are obtained by
fitting an asteroid thermophysical model to NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey
Explorer (WISE) infrared data. From the constrained thermal inertia and a model
of heat conductivity that accounts for different values of the packing fraction
(a measure of the degree of compaction of the regolith particles), grain size
is derived. Results. We obtain an effective diameter , geometric visible albedo (assuming
), and thermal inertia J/m2/s(1/2)/K at
the 1- level of significance for its retrograde spin pole solution. The
regolith particles radius is mm for low degrees of
compaction, and mm for the highest packing densities.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures; accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Bio-inspired swing leg control for spring-mass robots running on ground with unexpected height disturbance
We proposed three swing leg control policies for spring-mass running robots, inspired by experimental data from our recent collaborative work on ground running birds. Previous investigations suggest that animals may prioritize injury avoidance and/or efficiency as their objective function during running rather than maintaining limit-cycle stability. Therefore, in this study we targeted structural capacity (maximum leg force to avoid damage) and efficiency as the main goals for our control policies, since these objective functions are crucial to reduce motor size and structure weight. Each proposed policy controls the leg angle as a function of time during flight phase such that its objective function during the subsequent stance phase is regulated. The three objective functions that are regulated in the control policies are (i) the leg peak force, (ii) the axial impulse, and (iii) the leg actuator work. It should be noted that each control policy regulates one single objective function. Surprisingly, all three swing leg control policies result in nearly identical subsequent stance phase dynamics. This implies that the implementation of any of the proposed control policies would satisfy both goals (damage avoidance and efficiency) at once. Furthermore, all three control policies require a surprisingly simple leg angle adjustment: leg retraction with constant angular acceleration
Numerical Simulations of Highly Porous Dust Aggregates in the Low-Velocity Collision Regime
A highly favoured mechanism of planetesimal formation is collisional growth.
Single dust grains, which follow gas flows in the protoplanetary disc, hit each
other, stick due to van der Waals forces and form fluffy aggregates up to
centimetre size. The mechanism of further growth is unclear since the outcome
of aggregate collisions in the relevant velocity and size regime cannot be
investigated in the laboratory under protoplanetary disc conditions. Realistic
statistics of the result of dust aggregate collisions beyond decimetre size is
missing for a deeper understanding of planetary growth. Joining experimental
and numerical efforts we want to calibrate and validate a computer program that
is capable of a correct simulation of the macroscopic behaviour of highly
porous dust aggregates. After testing its numerical limitations thoroughly we
will check the program especially for a realistic reproduction of various
benchmark experiments. We adopt the smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH)
numerical scheme with extensions for the simulation of solid bodies and a
modified version of the Sirono porosity model. Experimentally measured
macroscopic material properties of silica dust are implemented. We calibrate
and test for the compressive strength relation and the bulk modulus. SPH has
already proven to be a suitable tool to simulate collisions at rather high
velocities. In this work we demonstrate that its area of application can not
only be extended to low-velocity experiments and collisions. It can also be
used to simulate the behaviour of highly porous objects in this velocity regime
to a very high accuracy.The result of the calibration process in this work is
an SPH code that can be utilised to investigate the collisional outcome of
porous dust in the low-velocity regime.Comment: accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic
Control of electron spin and orbital resonance in quantum dots through spin-orbit interactions
Influence of resonant oscillating electromagnetic field on a single electron
in coupled lateral quantum dots in the presence of phonon-induced relaxation
and decoherence is investigated. Using symmetry arguments it is shown that spin
and orbital resonance can be efficiently controlled by spin-orbit interactions.
The control is possible due to the strong sensitivity of Rabi frequency to the
dot configuration (orientation of the dot and a static magnetic field) as a
result of the anisotropy of the spin-orbit interactions. The so called easy
passage configuration is shown to be particularly suitable for magnetic
manipulation of spin qubits, ensuring long spin relaxation time and protecting
the spin qubit from electric field disturbances accompanying on-chip
manipulations.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures; v2: introduction and conclusions broadened,
moderate structure and content change
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