Optimal-efficiency control for constant-power operation of phase-decoupling permanent-magnet brushless motor drives

In this paper, a control approach to optimize the system efficiency of phase-decoupling (PD) permanent-magnet (PM) brushless motor drives during constant-power operation is presented. The approach is to adaptively adjust the advanced conduction angle to minimize the total system losses for a given operation point in the constant-power region. The corresponding minimum total losses are determined by minimizing the input current for a fixed voltage source. Both computer simulation and experimental results are given for illustration.published_or_final_versio

Dictionary Learning and Sparse Coding-based Denoising for High-Resolution Task Functional Connectivity MRI Analysis

We propose a novel denoising framework for task functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (tfMRI) data to delineate the high-resolution spatial pattern of the brain functional connectivity via dictionary learning and sparse coding (DLSC). In order to address the limitations of the unsupervised DLSC-based fMRI studies, we utilize the prior knowledge of task paradigm in the learning step to train a data-driven dictionary and to model the sparse representation. We apply the proposed DLSC-based method to Human Connectome Project (HCP) motor tfMRI dataset. Studies on the functional connectivity of cerebrocerebellar circuits in somatomotor networks show that the DLSC-based denoising framework can significantly improve the prominent connectivity patterns, in comparison to the temporal non-local means (tNLM)-based denoising method as well as the case without denoising, which is consistent and neuroscientifically meaningful within motor area. The promising results show that the proposed method can provide an important foundation for the high-resolution functional connectivity analysis, and provide a better approach for fMRI preprocessing.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, MLMI201

Permanent magnet brushless drives

The purpose of this paper is to present an optimal efficiency control scheme for constant power operation of phase decoupling (PD) PM brushless DC motor drives. The key is to adaptively adjust the advanced conduction angle to minimize the system losses for a given operation point in the constant power region. The strategy for constant power operation of PD PM brushless DC motor drives is exemplified using a 5-phase 22-pole PD PM brushless DC motor. In the sections that follow, the newly-developed optimal efficiency control technique is then illustrated. Then, after describing the corresponding implementation, both computer simulation and experimental results are presented, and some conclusions are offered.published_or_final_versio

Robust optical delay lines via topological protection

Phenomena associated with topological properties of physical systems are naturally robust against perturbations. This robustness is exemplified by quantized conductance and edge state transport in the quantum Hall and quantum spin Hall effects. Here we show how exploiting topological properties of optical systems can be used to implement robust photonic devices. We demonstrate how quantum spin Hall Hamiltonians can be created with linear optical elements using a network of coupled resonator optical waveguides (CROW) in two dimensions. We find that key features of quantum Hall systems, including the characteristic Hofstadter butterfly and robust edge state transport, can be obtained in such systems. As a specific application, we show that the topological protection can be used to dramatically improve the performance of optical delay lines and to overcome limitations related to disorder in photonic technologies.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures + 12 pages of supplementary informatio

The Genomic Signature of Crop-Wild Introgression in Maize

The evolutionary significance of hybridization and subsequent introgression has long been appreciated, but evaluation of the genome-wide effects of these phenomena has only recently become possible. Crop-wild study systems represent ideal opportunities to examine evolution through hybridization. For example, maize and the conspecific wild teosinte Zea mays ssp. mexicana, (hereafter, mexicana) are known to hybridize in the fields of highland Mexico. Despite widespread evidence of gene flow, maize and mexicana maintain distinct morphologies and have done so in sympatry for thousands of years. Neither the genomic extent nor the evolutionary importance of introgression between these taxa is understood. In this study we assessed patterns of genome-wide introgression based on 39,029 single nucleotide polymorphisms genotyped in 189 individuals from nine sympatric maize-mexicana populations and reference allopatric populations. While portions of the maize and mexicana genomes were particularly resistant to introgression (notably near known cross-incompatibility and domestication loci), we detected widespread evidence for introgression in both directions of gene flow. Through further characterization of these regions and preliminary growth chamber experiments, we found evidence suggestive of the incorporation of adaptive mexicana alleles into maize during its expansion to the highlands of central Mexico. In contrast, very little evidence was found for adaptive introgression from maize to mexicana. The methods we have applied here can be replicated widely, and such analyses have the potential to greatly informing our understanding of evolution through introgressive hybridization. Crop species, due to their exceptional genomic resources and frequent histories of spread into sympatry with relatives, should be particularly influential in these studies

A multi-level spectral deferred correction method

The spectral deferred correction (SDC) method is an iterative scheme for computing a higher-order collocation solution to an ODE by performing a series of correction sweeps using a low-order timestepping method. This paper examines a variation of SDC for the temporal integration of PDEs called multi-level spectral deferred corrections (MLSDC), where sweeps are performed on a hierarchy of levels and an FAS correction term, as in nonlinear multigrid methods, couples solutions on different levels. Three different strategies to reduce the computational cost of correction sweeps on the coarser levels are examined: reducing the degrees of freedom, reducing the order of the spatial discretization, and reducing the accuracy when solving linear systems arising in implicit temporal integration. Several numerical examples demonstrate the effect of multi-level coarsening on the convergence and cost of SDC integration. In particular, MLSDC can provide significant savings in compute time compared to SDC for a three-dimensional problem

Cosmological Birefringence: an Astrophysical test of Fundamental Physics

We review the methods used to test for the existence of cosmological birefringence, i.e. a rotation of the plane of linear polarization for electromagnetic radiation traveling over cosmological distances, which might arise in a number of important contexts involving the violation of fundamental physical principles. The main methods use: (1) the radio polarization of radio galaxies and quasars, (2) the ultraviolet polarization of radio galaxies, and (3) the cosmic microwave background polarization. We discuss the main results obtained so far, the advantages and disadvantages of each method, and future prospects.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the JENAM 2010 Symposium "From Varying Couplings to Fundamental Physics", held in Lisbon, 6-10 Sept. 201

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente