4,330 research outputs found
In good company? : Perception of movement synchrony of a non-anthropomorphic robot
Copyright: © 2015 Lehmann et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Recent technological developments like cheap sensors and the decreasing costs of computational power have brought the possibility of robotic home companions within reach. In order to be accepted it is vital for these robots to be able to participate meaningfully in social interactions with their users and to make them feel comfortable during these interactions. In this study we investigated how people respond to a situation where a companion robot is watching its user. Specifically, we tested the effect of robotic behaviours that are synchronised with the actions of a human. We evaluated the effects of these behaviours on the robotâs likeability and perceived intelligence using an online video survey. The robot used was Care-O-botÂź3, a non-anthropomorphic robot with a limited range of expressive motions. We found that even minimal, positively synchronised movements during an object-oriented task were interpreted by participants as engagement and created a positive disposition towards the robot. However, even negatively synchronised movements of the robot led to more positive perceptions of the robot, as compared to a robot that does not move at all. The results emphasise a) the powerful role that robot movements in general can have on participantsâ perception of the robot, and b) that synchronisation of body movements can be a powerful means to enhance the positive attitude towards a non-anthropomorphic robot.Peer reviewe
A band structure scenario for the giant spin-orbit splitting observed at the Bi/Si(111) interface
The Bi/Si(111) (sqrt{3} x sqrt{3})R30 trimer phase offers a prime example of
a giant spin-orbit splitting of the electronic states at the interface with a
semiconducting substrate. We have performed a detailed angle-resolved
photoemission (ARPES) study to clarify the complex topology of the hybrid
interface bands. The analysis of the ARPES data, guided by a model
tight-binding calculation, reveals a previously unexplored mechanism at the
origin of the giant spin-orbit splitting, which relies primarily on the
underlying band structure. We anticipate that other similar interfaces
characterized by trimer structures could also exhibit a large effect.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figure
Evolutionary Laws, Initial Conditions, and Gauge Fixing in Constrained Systems
We describe in detail how to eliminate nonphysical degrees of freedom in the
Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations of a constrained system. Two important
and distinct steps in our method are the fixing of ambiguities in the dynamics
and the determination of inequivalent initial data. The Lagrangian discussion
is novel, and a proof is given that the final number of degrees of freedom in
the two formulations agrees. We give applications to reparameterization
invariant theories, where we prove that one of the constraints must be
explicitly time dependent. We illustrate our procedure with the examples of
trajectories in spacetime and with spatially homogeneous cosmological models.
Finally, we comment briefly on Dirac's extended Hamiltonian technique.Comment: 23 pages; plain TeX. To appear: Classical & Quantum Gravit
Ag-coverage-dependent symmetry of the electronic states of the Pt(111)-Ag-Bi interface: The ARPES view of a structural transition
We studied by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy the strain-related
structural transition from a pseudomorphic monolayer (ML) to a striped
incommensurate phase in an Ag thin film grown on Pt(111). We exploited the
surfactant properties of Bi to grow ordered Pt(111)-xMLAg-Bi trilayers with 0 <
x < 5 ML, and monitored the dispersion of the Bi-derived interface states to
probe the structure of the underlying Ag film. We find that their symmetry
changes from threefold to sixfold and back to threefold in the Ag coverage
range studied. Together with previous scanning tunneling microscopy and
photoelectron diffraction data, these results provide a consistent microscopic
description of the coverage-dependent structural transition.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Generally covariant theories: the Noether obstruction for realizing certain space-time diffeomorphisms in phase space
Relying on known results of the Noether theory of symmetries extended to
constrained systems, it is shown that there exists an obstruction that prevents
certain tangent-space diffeomorphisms to be projectable to phase-space, for
generally covariant theories. This main result throws new light on the old fact
that the algebra of gauge generators in the phase space of General Relativity,
or other generally covariant theories, only closes as a soft algebra and not a
a Lie algebra.
The deep relationship between these two issues is clarified. In particular,
we see that the second one may be understood as a side effect of the procedure
to solve the first. It is explicitly shown how the adoption of specific
metric-dependent diffeomorphisms, as a way to achieve projectability, causes
the algebra of gauge generators (constraints) in phase space not to be a Lie
algebra --with structure constants-- but a soft algebra --with structure {\it
functions}.Comment: 22 pages, version to be published in Classical & Quantum Gravit
On the equivalence of the Einstein-Hilbert and the Einstein-Palatini formulations of general relativity for an arbitrary connection
In the framework of the Einstein-Palatini formalism, even though the
projective transformation connecting the arbitrary connection with the Levi
Civita connection has been floating in the literature for a long time and
perhaps the result was implicitly known in the affine gravity community, yet as
far as we know Julia and Silva were the first to realise its gauge character.
We rederive this result by using the Rosenfeld-Dirac-Bergmann approach to
constrained Hamiltonian systems and do a comprehensive self contained analysis
establishing the equivalence of the Einstein-Palatini and the metric
formulations without having to impose the gauge choice that the connection is
symmetric. We also make contact with the the Einstein-Cartan theory when the
matter Lagrangian has fermions.Comment: 18 pages. Slight change in the title and wording of some sections to
emphasize the main results. References added. Matches published versio
Canonical Noether symmetries and commutativity properties for gauge systems
For a dynamical system defined by a singular Lagrangian, canonical Noether
symmetries are characterized in terms of their commutation relations with the
evolution operators of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms. Separate
characterizations are given in phase space, in velocity space, and through an
evolution operator that links both spaces.Comment: 22 pages; some references updated, an uncited reference deleted,
minor style change
Effect of lattice mismatch-induced strains on coupled diffusive and displacive phase transformations
Materials which can undergo slow diffusive transformations as well as fast
displacive transformations are studied using the phase-field method. The model
captures the essential features of the time-temperature-transformation (TTT)
diagrams, continuous cooling transformation (CCT) diagrams, and microstructure
formation of these alloys. In some materials systems there can exist an
intrinsic volume change associated with these transformations. We show that
these coherency strains can stabilize mixed microstructures (such as retained
austenite-martensite and pearlite-martensite mixtures) by an interplay between
diffusive and displacive mechanisms, which can alter TTT and CCT diagrams.
Depending on the conditions there can be competitive or cooperative nucleation
of the two kinds of phases. The model also shows that small differences in
volume changes can have noticeable effects on the early stages of martensite
formation and on the resulting microstructures.
-- Long version of cond-mat/0605577
-- Keywords: Ginzburg-Landau, martensite, pearlite, spinodal decomposition,
shape memory, microstructures, TTT diagram, CCT diagram, elastic compatibilityComment: 10 pages, 13 figures, long version of cond-mat/0605577. Physical
Review B, to appear in volume 75 (2007
Tables of Hyperonic Matter Equation of State for Core-Collapse Supernovae
We present sets of equation of state (EOS) of nuclear matter including
hyperons using an SU_f(3) extended relativistic mean field (RMF) model with a
wide coverage of density, temperature, and charge fraction for numerical
simulations of core collapse supernovae. Coupling constants of Sigma and Xi
hyperons with the sigma meson are determined to fit the hyperon potential
depths in nuclear matter, U_Sigma(rho_0) ~ +30 MeV and U_Xi(rho_0) ~ -15 MeV,
which are suggested from recent analyses of hyperon production reactions. At
low densities, the EOS of uniform matter is connected with the EOS by Shen et
al., in which formation of finite nuclei is included in the Thomas-Fermi
approximation. In the present EOS, the maximum mass of neutron stars decreases
from 2.17 M_sun (Ne mu) to 1.63 M_sun (NYe mu) when hyperons are included. In a
spherical, adiabatic collapse of a 15 star by the hydrodynamics
without neutrino transfer, hyperon effects are found to be small, since the
temperature and density do not reach the region of hyperon mixture, where the
hyperon fraction is above 1 % (T > 40 MeV or rho_B > 0.4 fm^{-3}).Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures (Fig.3 and related comments on pion potential are
corrected in v3.
Substituting fields within the action: consistency issues and some applications
In field theory, as well as in mechanics, the substitution of some fields in
terms of other fields at the level of the action raises an issue of consistency
with respect to the equations of motion. We discuss this issue and give an
expression which neatly displays the difference between doing the substitution
at the level of the Lagrangian or at the level of the equations of motion. Both
operations do not commute in general. A very relevant exception is the case of
auxiliary variables, which are discussed in detail together with some of their
relevant applications. We discuss the conditions for the preservation of
symmetries - Noether as well as non-Noether - under the reduction of degrees of
freedom provided by the mechanism of substitution. We also examine how the
gauge fixing procedures fit in our framework and give simple examples on the
issue of consistency in this case.Comment: 17 page
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