10,712 research outputs found
Autonomous spacecraft maintenance study group
A plan to incorporate autonomous spacecraft maintenance (ASM) capabilities into Air Force spacecraft by 1989 is outlined. It includes the successful operation of the spacecraft without ground operator intervention for extended periods of time. Mechanisms, along with a fault tolerant data processing system (including a nonvolatile backup memory) and an autonomous navigation capability, are needed to replace the routine servicing that is presently performed by the ground system. The state of the art fault handling capabilities of various spacecraft and computers are described, and a set conceptual design requirements needed to achieve ASM is established. Implementations for near term technology development needed for an ASM proof of concept demonstration by 1985, and a research agenda addressing long range academic research for an advanced ASM system for 1990s are established
Compositional Set Invariance in Network Systems with Assume-Guarantee Contracts
This paper presents an assume-guarantee reasoning approach to the computation
of robust invariant sets for network systems. Parameterized signal temporal
logic (pSTL) is used to formally describe the behaviors of the subsystems,
which we use as the template for the contract. We show that set invariance can
be proved with a valid assume-guarantee contract by reasoning about individual
subsystems. If a valid assume-guarantee contract with monotonic pSTL template
is known, it can be further refined by value iteration. When such a contract is
not known, an epigraph method is proposed to solve for a contract that is
valid, ---an approach that has linear complexity for a sparse network. A
microgrid example is used to demonstrate the proposed method. The simulation
result shows that together with control barrier functions, the states of all
the subsystems can be bounded inside the individual robust invariant sets.Comment: Submitted to 2019 American Control Conferenc
Have We Observed the Higgs (Imposter)?
We interpret the new particle at the Large Hadron Collider as a CP-even
scalar and investigate its electroweak quantum number. Assuming an unbroken
custodial invariance as suggested by precision electroweak measurements, only
four possibilities are allowed if the scalar decays to pairs of gauge bosons,
as exemplified by a dilaton/radion, a non-dilatonic electroweak singlet scalar,
an electroweak doublet scalar, and electroweak triplet scalars. We show that
current LHC data already strongly disfavor both the dilatonic and non-dilatonic
singlet imposters. On the other hand, a generic Higgs doublet give excellent
fits to the measured event rates of the newly observed scalar resonance, while
the Standard Model Higgs boson gives a slightly worse overall fit due to the
lack signal in the tau tau channel. The triplet imposter exhibits some tension
with the data. The global fit indicates the enhancement in the diphoton channel
could be attributed to an enhanced partial decay width, while the production
rates are consistent with the Standard Model expectations. We emphasize that
more precise measurements of the ratio of event rates in the WW over ZZ
channels, as well as the event rates in b bbar and tau tau channels, are needed
to further distinguish the Higgs doublet from the triplet imposter.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures; v2: updated with most recent public data as of
August 7. A generic Higgs doublet now gives the best fit to data, while the
triplet imposter exhibits some tensio
Ballistic-Ohmic quantum Hall plateau transition in graphene pn junction
Recent quantum Hall experiments conducted on disordered graphene pn junction
provide evidence that the junction resistance could be described by a simple
Ohmic sum of the n and p mediums' resistances. However in the ballistic limit,
theory predicts the existence of chirality-dependent quantum Hall plateaus in a
pn junction. We show that two distinctively separate processes are required for
this ballistic-Ohmic plateau transition, namely (i) hole/electron Landau states
equilibration and (ii) valley iso-spin dilution of the incident Landau edge
state. These conclusions are obtained by a simple scattering theory argument,
and confirmed numerically by performing ensembles of quantum magneto-transport
calculations on a 0.1um-wide disordered graphene pn junction within the
tight-binding model. The former process is achieved by pn interface roughness,
where a pn interface disorder with a root-mean-square roughness of 10nm was
found to suffice under typical experimental conditions. The latter process is
mediated by extrinsic edge roughness for an armchair edge ribbon and by
intrinsic localized intervalley scattering centers at the edge of the pn
interface for a zigzag ribbon. In light of these results, we also examine why
higher Ohmic type plateaus are less likely to be observable in experiments.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Error Voltage Components in Quantitative Voltage Contrast Measurement Systems
This paper presents the results of computer simulation studies into the respective contributions of the potential barrier, the off-normal incidence injection of secondary electrons (SEs) into the retarding field and analyser geometry on Types I and II local field error voltages for a practical 20 mm wide planar retarding field energy analyser. Results show that the error voltage component due to the off-normal incidence injection effect of SEs into the retarding field dominates the Type I local field error. For type II LFE, the error voltage component due to analyser geometry effect is the higher contributing factor. The presence of a neighbouring electrode voltage tends to draw SEs away from the central axis of the energy analyser, thus causing the electron trajectories to be more sensitive to the influence of the analyser geometry
Metal Cooling in Simulations of Cosmic Structure Formation
The addition of metals to any gas can significantly alter its evolution by
increasing the rate of radiative cooling. In star-forming environments,
enhanced cooling can potentially lead to fragmentation and the formation of
low-mass stars, where metal-free gas-clouds have been shown not to fragment.
Adding metal cooling to numerical simulations has traditionally required a
choice between speed and accuracy. We introduce a method that uses the
sophisticated chemical network of the photoionization software, Cloudy, to
include radiative cooling from a complete set of metals up to atomic number 30
(Zn) that can be used with large-scale three-dimensional hydrodynamic
simulations. Our method is valid over an extremely large temperature range (10
K < T < 10^8 K), up to hydrogen number densities of 10^12 cm^-3. At this
density, a sphere of 1 Msun has a radius of roughly 40 AU. We implement our
method in the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) hydrodynamic/N-body code, Enzo.
Using cooling rates generated with this method, we study the physical
conditions that led to the transition from Population III to Population II star
formation. While C, O, Fe, and Si have been previously shown to make the
strongest contribution to the cooling in low-metallicity gas, we find that up
to 40% of the metal cooling comes from fine-structure emission by S, when solar
abundance patterns are present. At metallicities, Z > 10^-4 Zsun, regions of
density and temperature exist where gas is both thermally unstable and has a
cooling time less than its dynamical time. We identify these doubly unstable
regions as the most inducive to fragmentation. At high redshifts, the CMB
inhibits efficient cooling at low temperatures and, thus, reduces the size of
the doubly unstable regions, making fragmentation more difficult.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, significant revision, including new figure
Superefficiency in Nonparametric Function Estimation
Fixed parameter asymptotic statements are often used in the context of nonparametric curve estimation problems (e.g., nonparametric density or regression estimation). In this context several forms of superefficiency can occur. In contrast to what can happen in regular parametric problems, here every parameter point (e.g., unknown density or regression function) can be a point of superefficiency.
We begin with an example which shows how fixed parameter asymptotic statements have often appeared in the study of adaptive kernel estimators, and how superefficiency can occur in this context. We then carry out a more systematic study of such fixed parameter statements. It is shown in four general settings how the degree of superefficiency attainable depends on the structural assumptions in each case
World-line Quantisation of a Reciprocally Invariant System
We present the world-line quantisation of a system invariant under the
symmetries of reciprocal relativity (pseudo-unitary transformations on ``phase
space coordinates" which preserve the Minkowski
metric and the symplectic form, and global shifts in these coordinates,
together with coordinate dependent transformations of an additional compact
phase coordinate, ). The action is that of free motion over the
corresponding Weyl-Heisenberg group. Imposition of the first class constraint,
the generator of local time reparametrisations, on physical states enforces
identification of the world-line cosmological constant with a fixed value of
the quadratic Casimir of the quaplectic symmetry group , the semi-direct product of the pseudo-unitary group with
the Weyl-Heisenberg group (the central extension of the global translation
group, with central extension associated to the phase variable ).
The spacetime spectrum of physical states is identified. Even though for an
appropriate range of values the restriction enforced by the cosmological
constant projects out negative norm states from the physical spectrum, leaving
over spin zero states only, the mass-squared spectrum is continuous over the
entire real line and thus includes a tachyonic branch as well
Phenomenology of the Littlest Higgs with T-Parity
Little Higgs models offer an interesting approach to weakly coupled
electroweak symmetry breaking without fine tuning. The original little Higgs
models were plagued by strong constraints from electroweak precision data which
required a fine tuning to be reintroduced. An economical solution to this
problem is to introduce a discrete symmetry (analogous to R-parity of SUSY)
called T-parity. T-parity not only eliminates most constraints from electroweak
precision data, but it also leads to a promising dark matter candidate. In this
paper we investigate the dark matter candidate in the littlest Higgs model with
T-parity. We find bounds on the symmetry breaking scale f as a function of the
Higgs mass by calculating the relic density. We begin the study of the LHC
phenomenology of the littlest Higgs model with T-parity. We find that the model
offers an interesting collider signature that has a generic missing energy
signal which could "fake" SUSY at the LHC. We also investigate the properties
of the heavy partner of the top quark which is common to all littlest Higgs
models, and how its properties are modified with the introduction of T-parity.
We include an appendix with a list of Feynman rules specific to the littlest
Higgs with T-parity to facilitate further study.Comment: 32 pages, 8 figures; dark matter bounds revised; comphep model files
made publicly available at http://www.lns.cornell.edu/public/theory/tparity
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