6,441 research outputs found
Attention to attributes and objects in working memory
It has been debated on the basis of change-detection procedures whether visual working memory is limited by the number of objects, task-relevant attributes within those objects, or bindings between attributes. This debate, however, has been hampered by several limitations, including the use of conditions that vary between studies and the absence of appropriate mathematical models to estimate the number of items in working memory in different stimulus conditions. We re-examined working memory limits in two experiments with a wide array of conditions involving color and shape attributes, relying on a set of new models to fit various stimulus situations. In Experiment 2, a new procedure allowed identical retrieval conditions across different conditions of attention at encoding. The results show that multiple attributes compete for attention, but that retaining the binding between attributes is accomplished only by retaining the attributes themselves. We propose a theoretical account in which a fixed object capacity limit contains within it the possibility of the incomplete retention of object attributes, depending on the direction of attention
Models of verbal working memory capacity: What does it take to make them work?
Theories of working memory (WM) capacity limits will be more useful when we know what aspects of performance are governed by the limits and what aspects are governed by other memory mechanisms. Whereas considerable progress has been made on models of WM capacity limits for visual arrays of separate objects, less progress has been made in understanding verbal materials, especially when words are mentally combined to form multiword units or chunks. Toward a more comprehensive theory of capacity limits, we examined models of forced-choice recognition of words within printed lists, using materials designed to produce multiword chunks in memory (e.g., leather brief case). Several simple models were tested against data from a variety of list lengths and potential chunk sizes, with test conditions that only imperfectly elicited the interword associations. According to the most successful model, participants retained about 3 chunks on average in a capacity-limited region of WM, with some chunks being only subsets of the presented associative information (e.g., leather brief case retained with leather as one chunk and brief case as another). The addition to the model of an activated long-term memory component unlimited in capacity was needed. A fixed-capacity limit appears critical to account for immediate verbal recognition and other forms of WM. We advance a model-based approach that allows capacity to be assessed despite other important processing contributions. Starting with a psychological-process model of WM capacity developed to understand visual arrays, we arrive at a more unified and complete model
Dipolar Bose gases: Many-body versus mean-field description
We characterize zero-temperature dipolar Bose gases under external spherical
confinement as a function of the dipole strength using the essentially exact
many-body diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) technique. We show that the DMC energies
are reproduced accurately within a mean-field framework if the variation of the
s-wave scattering length with the dipole strength is accounted for properly.
Our calculations suggest stability diagrams and collapse mechanisms of dipolar
Bose gases that differ significantly from those previously proposed in the
literature
Form and function in hillslope hydrology : in situ imaging and characterization of flow-relevant structures
Thanks to Elly Karle and the Engler-BunteInstitute, KIT, for the IC measurements of bromide. We are grateful to Selina Baldauf, Marcel Delock, Razije Fiden, Barbara Herbstritt, Lisei Köhn, Jonas Lanz, Francois Nyobeu, Marvin Reich and Begona Lorente Sistiaga for their support in the lab and during fieldwork, as well as Markus Morgner and Jean Francois Iffly for technical support and Britta Kattenstroth for hydrometeorological data acquisition. Laurent Pfister and Jean-Francois Iffly from the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) are acknowledged for organizing the permissions for the experiments. Moreover, we thank Markus Weiler (University of Freiburg) for his strong support during the planning of the hillslope experiment and the preparation of the manuscript. This study is part of the DFG-funded CAOS project “From Catchments as Organised Systems to Models based on Dynamic Functional Units” (FOR 1598). The manuscript was substantially improved based on the critical and constructive comments of the anonymous reviewers, Christian Stamm and Alexander Zimmermann, and the editor Ross Woods during the open review process, which is highly appreciated.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
System Size Dependence of Particle Production at the SPS
Recent results on the system size dependence of net-baryon and hyperon
production as measured at the CERN SPS are discussed. The observed Npart
dependences of yields, but also of dynamical properties, such as average
transverse momenta, can be described in the context of the core corona
approach. Other observables, such as antiproton yields and net-protons at
forward rapidities, do not follow the predictions of this model. Possible
implications for a search for a critical point in the QCD phase diagram are
discussed. Event-by-event fluctuations of the relative core to corona source
contributions might influence fluctuation observables (e.g. multiplicity
fluctuations). The magnitude of this effect is investigated.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figurs. Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on
Critical Point and Onset of Deconfinement in Dubna, Aug. 201
Quantum Monte Carlo study of quasi-one-dimensional Bose gases
We study the behavior of quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1d) Bose gases by Monte
Carlo techniques, i.e., by the variational Monte Carlo, the diffusion Monte
Carlo, and the fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo technique. Our calculations
confirm and extend our results of an earlier study [Astrakharchik et al.,
cond-mat/0308585]. We find that a quasi-1d Bose gas i) is well described by a
1d model Hamiltonian with contact interactions and renormalized coupling
constant; ii) reaches the Tonks-Girardeau regime for a critical value of the 3d
scattering length a_3d; iii) enters a unitary regime for |a_3d| -> infinity,
where the properties of the gas are independent of a_3d and are similar to
those of a 1d gas of hard-rods; and iv) becomes unstable against cluster
formation for a critical value of the 1d gas parameter. The accuracy and
implications of our results are discussed in detail.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure
Cosmological Effects in Planetary Science
In an earlier discussion of the planetary flyby anomaly, a preliminary assessment of cosmological effects upon planetary orbits exhibiting the flyby anomaly was made. A more comprehensive investigation has since been published, although it was directed at the Pioneer anomaly and possible effects of universal rotation. The general subject of Solar System anomalies will be examined here from the point of view of planetary science
Form and function in hillslope hydrology : Characterization of subsurface ow based on response observations
Acknowledgements. We are grateful to Marcel Delock, Lisei Köhn, and Marvin Reich for their support during fieldwork, as well as Markus Morgner and Jean Francois Iffly for technical support, Britta Kattenstroth for hydrometeorological data acquisition and isotope sampling, and Barbara Herbstritt and Begoña Lorente Sistiaga for laboratory work. Laurent Pfister and Jean-Francois Iffly from the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) are acknowledged for organizing the permissions for the experiments and providing discharge data for Weierbach 1 and Colpach. We also want to thank Frauke K. Barthold and the two anonymous reviewers, whose thorough remarks greatly helped to improve the manuscript. This study is part of DFG-funded CAOS project “From Catchments as Organised Systems to Models based on Dynamic Functional Units” (FOR 1598). The article processing charges for this open-access publication were covered by a Research Centre of the Helmholtz Association.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Dilute Bose gases interacting via power-law potentials
Neutral atoms interact through a van der Waals potential which asymptotically
falls off as r^{-6}. In ultracold gases, this interaction can be described to a
good approximation by the atom-atom scattering length. However, corrections
arise that depend on the characteristic length of the van der Waals potential.
We parameterize these corrections by analyzing the energies of two- and
few-atom systems under external harmonic confinement, obtained by numerically
and analytically solving the Schrodinger equation. We generalize our results to
particles interacting through a longer-ranged potential which asymptotically
falls off as r^{-4}.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
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