71,048 research outputs found
Unifying Requirements and Code: an Example
Requirements and code, in conventional software engineering wisdom, belong to
entirely different worlds. Is it possible to unify these two worlds? A unified
framework could help make software easier to change and reuse. To explore the
feasibility of such an approach, the case study reported here takes a classic
example from the requirements engineering literature and describes it using a
programming language framework to express both domain and machine properties.
The paper describes the solution, discusses its benefits and limitations, and
assesses its scalability.Comment: 13 pages; 7 figures; to appear in Ershov Informatics Conference, PSI,
Kazan, Russia (LNCS), 201
High-Precision Thermodynamics and Hagedorn Density of States
We compute the entropy density of the confined phase of QCD without quarks on
the lattice to very high accuracy. The results are compared to the entropy
density of free glueballs, where we include all the known glueball states below
the two-particle threshold. We find that an excellent, parameter-free
description of the entropy density between 0.7Tc and Tc is obtained by
extending the spectrum with the exponential spectrum of the closed bosonic
string.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Theory of PbTiO3, BaTiO3, and SrTiO3 Surfaces
First-principles total-energy calculations are carried out for (001) surfaces
of the cubic perovskite ATiO3 compounds PbTiO3, BaTiO3, and SrTiO3. Both
AO-terminated and TiO2-terminated surfaces are considered, and fully-relaxed
atomic configurations are determined. In general, BaTiO3 and SrTiO3 are found
to have a rather similar behavior, while PbTiO3 is different in many respects
because of the partially covalent character of the Pb-O bonds. PbTiO3 and
BaTiO3 are ferroelectrics, and the influence of the surface upon the
ferroelectric distortions is studied for the case of a tetragonal ferroelectric
distortion parallel to the surface. The surface relaxation energies are found
to be substantial, i.e., many times larger than the bulk ferroelectric well
depth. Nevertheless, the influence of the surface upon the ferroelectric order
parameter is modest, and is qualitatively as well as quantitatively different
for the two materials. Surface energies and electronic properties are also
computed. It is found that for BaTiO3 and SrTiO3 surfaces, both AO-terminated
and TiO2-terminated surfaces can be thermodynamically stable, whereas for
PbTiO3 only the PbO surface termination is stable.Comment: 13 pages with 3 postscript figures embedded. Uses REVTEX and epsf
macros. Also available at
http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~dhv/preprints/index.html#bm_pbsur
On the growth of normal faults and the existence of flats and ramps along the El Asnam active fold and thrust system
The combination of detailed topographic leveling on the southwest segment of the El Asnam thrust fault with existing seismic and geologic data implies that the geometry of this fault involves shallow dipping flats and steep ramps. The fault appears to be growing along strike toward the southwest end, where the main shock initiated in 1980. From a depth of about 10 km, the main thrust appears to ramp to the basement-Cenozoic cover interface on a plane striking N40°E and dipping 50°–55° to the northwest. Along the southwest segment where folding has not yet developed, the thrust continues steeply through the Cenozoic cover to the near surface where it flattens, causing normal faulting. Along the central and northeast segments, which display a more evolved fold structure, the deep thrust probably flattens at a depth of 5–6 km, into a decollement along the Cenozoic-Jurassic interface before ramping to the surface. The Sara El Marouf and Kef El Mes anticlines have thus formed as fault propagation folds. Normal faults at Beni Rached probably branch with the thrust to maintain kinematic compatibility between the deep ramp and decollement. The greater separation (∼7 km) between the normal faults at Beni Rached and the thrust where it crosses Oued Cheliff than along the southwest segment (∼1 km) reflects the greater depth of the ramp to flat bend. We infer that the September 9, 1954, earthquake activated only the central deep segment of the main thrust together with the Beni Rached normal faults, while that of October 10, 1980, activated the whole system of flat decollements, ramp thrusts and compatibility normal faults. Further complexities of the faulting in map view are related to changes of strike of the thrust (in particular north of Oued Cheliff)
Integrability of the critical point of the Kagom\'e three-state Potts mode
The vicinity of the critical point of the three-state Potts model on a
Kagom\'e lattice is studied by mean of Random Matrix Theory. Strong evidence
that the critical point is integrable is given.Comment: 1 LaTex file + 3 eps files 7 page
AVIRIS data characteristics and their effects on spectral discrimination of rocks exposed in the Drum Mountains, Utah: Results of a preliminary study
Airborne Visible and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data collected over a geologically diverse field site and over a nearby calibration site were analyzed and interpreted in efforts to document radiometric and geometric characteristics of AVIRIS, quantify and correct for detrimental sensor phenomena, and evaluate the utility of AVIRIS data for discriminating rock types and identifying their constituent mineralogy. AVIRIS data acquired for these studies exhibit a variety of detrimental artifacts and have lower signal-to-noise ratios than expected in the longer wavelength bands. Artifacts are both inherent in the image data and introduced during ground processing, but most may be corrected by appropriate processing techniques. Poor signal-to-noise characteristics of this AVIRIS data set limited the usefulness of the data for lithologic discrimination and mineral identification. Various data calibration techniques, based on field-acquired spectral measurements, were applied to the AVIRIS data. Major absorption features of hydroxyl-bearing minerals were resolved in the spectra of the calibrated AVIRIS data, and the presence of hydroxyl-bearing minerals at the corresponding ground locations was confirmed by field data
Specifying Reusable Components
Reusable software components need expressive specifications. This paper
outlines a rigorous foundation to model-based contracts, a method to equip
classes with strong contracts that support accurate design, implementation, and
formal verification of reusable components. Model-based contracts
conservatively extend the classic Design by Contract with a notion of model,
which underpins the precise definitions of such concepts as abstract
equivalence and specification completeness. Experiments applying model-based
contracts to libraries of data structures suggest that the method enables
accurate specification of practical software
Public Release of 2dF data from the Fornax Cluster Spectroscopic Survey
Thanks to the 2dF spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope, we have
recently completed the first stage of a complete spectroscopic survey more than
one order of magnitude larger than any previous study, measuring 7000 spectra
in a 6 sq.deg. area as part of our study of the Fornax Cluster. In this article
we describe the public release of 3600 spectra from our first field. We hope
that this public release will encourage colleagues making surveys for rare
objects to choose these fields, as much of the follow-up spectroscopy that
might be required is available from our data.Comment: To appear in the AAO Newsletter. Data online at
http://astro.ph.unimelb.edu.au/data
Cumulant expansions for atmospheric flows
The equations governing atmospheric flows are nonlinear. Consequently, the
hierarchy of cumulant equations is not closed. But because atmospheric flows
are inhomogeneous and anisotropic, the nonlinearity may manifest itself only
weakly through interactions of mean fields with disturbances such as thermals
or eddies. In such situations, truncations of the hierarchy of cumulant
equations hold promise as a closure strategy.
We review how truncations at second order can be used to model and elucidate
the dynamics of atmospheric flows. Two examples are considered. First, we study
the growth of a dry convective boundary layer, which is heated from below,
leading to turbulent upward energy transport and growth of the boundary layer.
We demonstrate that a quasilinear truncation of the equations of motion, in
which interactions of disturbances among each other are neglected but
interactions with mean fields are taken into account, can capture the growth of
the convective boundary layer even if it does not capture important turbulent
transport terms. Second, we study the evolution of two-dimensional large-scale
waves representing waves in Earth's upper atmosphere. We demonstrate that a
cumulant expansion truncated at second order (CE2) can capture the evolution of
such waves and their nonlinear interaction with the mean flow in some
circumstances, for example, when the wave amplitude is small enough or the
planetary rotation rate is large enough. However, CE2 fails to capture the flow
evolution when nonlinear eddy--eddy interactions in surf zones become
important. Higher-order closures can capture these missing interactions.
The results point to new ways in which the dynamics of turbulent boundary
layers may be represented in climate models, and they illustrate different
classes of nonlinear processes that can control wave dissipation and momentum
fluxes in the troposphere.Comment: 43 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in the New Journal of
Physic
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