314 research outputs found
Automatic detection and plotting of the road network from aerial images
Image analysis, in the field of cartography, is not limited only to object recognition,
but also includes the precise computation of object geometric shapes . Our
approach, for automatic extraction ofroad networkfor use in cartography, involves
two distinct steps. Step one, recognition, extracts a topologically correct exhaustive
graph of the network and step two, geometric shape extraction, computes all
centerlines for the complete road network with good quality results both in
accuracy and in cartographic representation . For object recognition, we have
developed a road following algorithm based on the minimization of a cost function
which evaluates the homogeneity . For geometric shape computation, we propose
a method based on the calculation of a well balanced position of road sections
with respect to a set of constraints : internal constraints - derived from a knowledge
of road-shape characteristics - and external constraints-which force the
connection between sets of well known points.L'analyse d'image, dans le domaine cartographique, ne se réduit pas à la reconnaissance des objets mais nécessite d'extraire leur géométrie avec une grande précision. Nous nous orientons, pour l'extraction automatique du réseau routier à des fins cartographiques, vers une approche où ces deux phases ― détection et restitution ― seraient distinctes: la phase de détection ayant pour but d'extraire un graphe exhaustif du réseau avec une topologie exacte et la phase de restitution ayant en charge le calcul de la géométrie de l'axe des routes en apportant à l'ensemble du réseau détecté une précision suffisante et une bonne représentation cartographique. Pour la détection, nous avons développé un algorithme de suivi de route basé sur l'optimisation d'un critère d'homogénéité directionnelle. Pour la phase de restitution, nous préconisons une méthode basée sur la recherche de la position d'équilibre des tronçons de route soumis à des contraintes internes ― basées sur la connaissance de la forme générale des routes ― et externes ― basées sur la connaissance de la géométrie exacte de certains points de passage de la route
Quantitative analysis of shadow X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism Photo-Emission Electron Microscopy
Shadow X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism Photo-Emission Electron Microscopy
(XMCD-PEEM) is a recent technique, in which the photon intensity in the shadow
of an object lying on a surface, may be used to gather information about the
three-dimensional magnetization texture inside the object. Our purpose here is
to lay the basis of a quantitative analysis of this technique. We first discuss
the principle and implementation of a method to simulate the contrast expected
from an arbitrary micromagnetic state. Text book examples and successful
comparison with experiments are then given. Instrumental settings are finally
discussed, having an impact on the contrast and spatial resolution : photon
energy, microscope extraction voltage and plane of focus, microscope background
level, electric-field related distortion of three-dimensional objects, Fresnel
diffraction or photon scattering
Observation of Bloch-point domain walls in cylindrical magnetic nanowires
Topological protection is an elegant way of warranting the integrity of
quantum and nanosized systems. In magnetism one example is the Bloch-point, a
peculiar object implying the local vanishing of magnetization within a
ferromagnet. Its existence had been postulated and described theoretically
since several decades, however it has never been observed. We con rm
experimentally the existence of Bloch points, imaged within domain walls in
cylindrical magnetic nanowires, combining surface and transmission XMCD-PEEM
magnetic microscopy. This opens the way to the experimental search for peculiar
phenomena predicted during the motion of Bloch-point-based domain walls
Status of the LHCb magnet system
The LHCb experiment focuses on the precision measurement of CP violation and rare decays in the B-meson system. It plans to operate with an average luminosity of ~cms, which should be obtained from the beginning of the LHC operation. The LHCb detector exploits the forward region of the pp collisions at the LHC collider. It requires a single-arm spectrometer for the separation and momentum measurement of the charged particles with a large dipole magnet of a free aperture of ~mrad horizontally and ~mrad vertically. The magnet is designed for a total integrated field of 4~Tm. The pole gap is 2.2 to 3.5~m vertically (the direction of the field) and 2.6 to 4.2~m horizontally. The overall length of the magnet (in beam direction) is 5~m and its total weight about 1500~t. The power dissipation in the aluminium coils will be 4.2~MW. The magnet yoke is constructed from low carbon steel plates of 100~mm thickness. The maximum weight of one plate does not exceed 25~t. The coils are wound from large hollow aluminium conductor of cross-section with a central cooling channel of 25~mm diameter for the pressurized demineralized water. Each of the two coils is composed of 15~monolayer pancakes of 15~turns per pancake. To reach good field quality the coils are bent by 45 towards the gap along the horizontal aperture of ~mrad and the pole pieces have large shims. The underlying magnet design, its present status and milestones will be reviewed
A Model for Ferromagnetic Nanograins with Discrete Electronic States
We propose a simple phenomenological model for an ultrasmall ferromagnetic
grain, formulated in terms of the grain's discrete energy levels. We compare
the model's predictions with recent measurements of the discrete tunneling
spectrum through such a grain. The model can qualitatively account for the
observed features if we assume (i) that the anisotropy energy varies among
different eigenstates of one grain, and (ii) that nonequilibrium spin
accumulation occurs.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Socio-Emotional Competencies and School Performance in Adolescence: What Role for School Adjustment?
There is growing evidence in the literature of positive relationships between socio-emotional competencies and school performance. Several hypotheses have been used to explain how these variables may be related to school performance. In this paper, we explored the role of various school adjustment variables in the relationship between interpersonal socio-emotional competencies and school grades, using a weighted network approach. This network approach allowed us to analyze the structure of interrelations between each variable, pointing to both central and mediatory school and socio-emotional variables within the network. Self-reported data from around 3,400 French vocational high school students were examined. This data included a set of interpersonal socio-emotional competencies (cognitive and affective empathy, socio-emotional behaviors and collective orientation), school adjustment measures (adaptation to the institution, school anxiety, self-regulation at school, and self-perceived competence at school) as well as grades in mathematics and French language. The results showed that self-regulation at school weighted the most strongly on the whole network, and was the most important mediatory pathway. More specifically, self-regulation mediated the relationships between interpersonal socio-emotional competencies and school grades
Neel probability and spin correlations in some nonmagnetic and nondegenerate states of hexanuclear antiferromagnetic ring Fe6: Application of algebraic combinatorics to finite Heisenberg spin systems
The spin correlations \omega^z_r, r=1,2,3, and the probability p_N$ of
finding a system in the Neel state for the antiferromagnetic ring Fe(III)6 (the
so-called `small ferric wheel') are calculated. States with magnetization M=0,
total spin 0<=S<=15 and labeled by two (out of four) one-dimensional
irreducible representations (irreps) of the point symmetry group D_6 are taken
into account. This choice follows from importance of these irreps in analyzing
low-lying states in each S-multiplet. Taking into account the Clebsch--Gordan
coefficients for coupling total spins of sublattices (SA=SB=15/2) the global
Neel probability p*_N can be determined. Dependencies of these quantities on
state energy (per bond and in the units of exchange integral J) and the total
spin S are analyzed. Providing we have determined p_N(S) etc. for other
antiferromagnetic rings (Fe10, for instance) we could try to approximate
results for the largest synthesized ferric wheel Fe18. Since thermodynamic
properties of Fe6 have been investigated recently, in the present
considerations they are not discussed, but only used to verify obtained values
of eigenenergies. Numerical results re calculated with high precision using two
main tools: (i) thorough analysis of symmetry properties including methods of
algebraic combinatorics and (ii) multiple precision arithmetic library GMP. The
system considered yields more than 45 thousands basic states (the so-called
Ising configurations), but application of the method proposed reduces this
problem to 20-dimensional eigenproblem for the ground state (S=0). The largest
eigenproblem has to be solved for S=4; its dimension is 60. These two facts
(high precision and small resultant eigenproblems) confirm efficiency and
usefulness of such an approach, so it is briefly discussed here.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figs, 5 tabs, revtex
Landau model for uniaxial systems with complex order parameter
We study the Landau model for uniaxial incommensurate-commensurate systems of
the I class by keeping Umklapp terms of third and fourth order in the expansion
of the free energy. It applies to systems in which the soft mode minimum lies
between the corresponding commensurate wave numbers. The minimization of the
Landau functional leads to the sine-Gordon equation with two nonlinear terms,
equivalent to the equation of motion for the well-known classical mechanical
problem of two mixing resonances. We calculate the average free energies for
periodic, quasiperiodic and chaotic solutions of this equation, and show that
in the regime of finite strengths of Umklapp terms only periodic solutions are
absolute minima of the free energy, so that the phase diagram contains only
commensurate configurations. The phase transitions between neighboring
configurations are of the first order, and the wave number of ordering goes
through harmless staircase with a finite number of steps. These results are the
basis for the interpretation of phase diagrams for some materials from the I
class of incommensurate-commensurate systems, in particular of those for
ABX and BCCD compounds. Also, we argue that chaotic barriers which
separate metastable periodic solutions represent an intrinsic mechanism for
observed memory effects and thermal hystereses.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, LaTeX, to be published in Phys. Rev.
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