83,260 research outputs found
Laboratory studies of baroclinic instability at small Richardson number
As part of the support program for the Atmospheric General Circulation Experiment, laboratory studies of baroclinic and other convective instabilities were performed for a thin layer of fluid between thermally conducting horizontal discs. There were three types of modes identified. The first has a spiral-arm appearance, and exists for large enough horizontal thermal forcing, weak enough static stability, and large enough rotation. The source of this wave is shown to be the Eady mode of instability. The second mode is due to convective instability in the thermal boundary layers which exist due to the thermally conducting horizontal boundaries. Finally, for strong enough negative static stability, thermal convection of the Benard type appears. The most significant result is that the symmetric (Solberg) mode was not found, even though the infinite-plane theory predicts this mode under certain experimental conditions
A learning controller for nonrepetitive robotic operation
A practical learning control system is described which is applicable to complex robotic and telerobotic systems involving multiple feedback sensors and multiple command variables. In the controller, the learning algorithm is used to learn to reproduce the nonlinear relationship between the sensor outputs and the system command variables over particular regions of the system state space, rather than learning the actuator commands required to perform a specific task. The learned information is used to predict the command signals required to produce desired changes in the sensor outputs. The desired sensor output changes may result from automatic trajectory planning or may be derived from interactive input from a human operator. The learning controller requires no a priori knowledge of the relationships between the sensor outputs and the command variables. The algorithm is well suited for real time implementation, requiring only fixed point addition and logical operations. The results of learning experiments using a General Electric P-5 manipulator interfaced to a VAX-11/730 computer are presented. These experiments involved interactive operator control, via joysticks, of the position and orientation of an object in the field of view of a video camera mounted on the end of the robot arm
Exact Enumeration and Sampling of Matrices with Specified Margins
We describe a dynamic programming algorithm for exact counting and exact
uniform sampling of matrices with specified row and column sums. The algorithm
runs in polynomial time when the column sums are bounded. Binary or
non-negative integer matrices are handled. The method is distinguished by
applicability to non-regular margins, tractability on large matrices, and the
capacity for exact sampling
Exact sampling and counting for fixed-margin matrices
The uniform distribution on matrices with specified row and column sums is
often a natural choice of null model when testing for structure in two-way
tables (binary or nonnegative integer). Due to the difficulty of sampling from
this distribution, many approximate methods have been developed. We will show
that by exploiting certain symmetries, exact sampling and counting is in fact
possible in many nontrivial real-world cases. We illustrate with real datasets
including ecological co-occurrence matrices and contingency tables.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/13-AOS1131 the Annals of
Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical
Statistics (http://www.imstat.org). arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:1104.032
The Hilbert Action in Regge Calculus
The Hilbert action is derived for a simplicial geometry. I recover the usual
Regge calculus action by way of a decomposition of the simplicial geometry into
4-dimensional cells defined by the simplicial (Delaunay) lattice as well as its
dual (Voronoi) lattice. Within the simplicial geometry, the Riemann scalar
curvature, the proper 4-volume, and hence, the Regge action is shown to be
exact, in the sense that the definition of the action does not require one to
introduce an averaging procedure, or a sequence of continuum metrics which were
common in all previous derivations. It appears that the unity of these two dual
lattice geometries is a salient feature of Regge calculus.Comment: 6 pages, Plain TeX, no figure
The Effect of Children on Specialization and Coordination of Partners' Activities
This paper first documents the extent of the specialization in time use in couple families, and the impact of children on this specialization. It then examines the links between the time allocations of partners in couple families, the impact of children on these links, and the effects these factors have on specialization in time use. Children are shown to intensify the specialization in time use in couple families through reducing the apparent complementarity in time allocations of their parents.coordination, gender, time allocations, specialisation
Geometry and General Relativity in the Groupoid Model with a Finite Structure Group
In a series of papers we proposed a model unifying general relativity and
quantum mechanics. The idea was to deduce both general relativity and quantum
mechanics from a noncommutative algebra defined on a
transformation groupoid determined by the action of the Lorentz group
on the frame bundle over space-time . In the present work,
we construct a simplified version of the gravitational sector of this model in
which the Lorentz group is replaced by a finite group and the frame bundle
is trivial . The model is fully computable. We define the
Einstein-Hilbert action, with the help of which we derive the generalized
vacuum Einstein equations. When the equations are projected to space-time
(giving the "general relativistic limit"), the extra terms that appear due to
our generalization can be interpreted as "matter terms", as in
Kaluza-Klein-type models. To illustrate this effect we further simplify the
metric matrix to a block diagonal form, compute for it the generalized Einstein
equations and find two of their "Friedmann-like" solutions for the special case
when . One of them gives the flat Minkowski space-time (which,
however, is not static), another, a hyperbolic, linearly expanding universe.Comment: 32 page
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