10,851 research outputs found
A Faultine-Based Model of Team Leadership
Modern work teams operate in environments where increasingly salient member differences lead to the emergence of subgroups. Building on findings from the faultline literature, we propose that team members typically organize into three types of subgorupsâcliques, coalitions, and cohorts, and that different leader orientations are mandated by each subgroup type
Dynamics of Atom-Field Entanglement from Exact Solutions: Towards Strong Coupling and Non-Markovian Regimes
We examine the dynamics of bipartite entanglement between a two-level atom
and the electromagnetic field. We treat the Jaynes-Cummings model with a single
field mode and examine in detail the exact time evolution of entanglement,
including cases where the atomic state is initially mixed and the atomic
transition is detuned from resonance. We then explore the effects of other
nearby modes by calculating the exact time evolution of entanglement in more
complex systems with two, three, and five field modes. For these cases we can
obtain exact solutions which include the strong coupling regimes. Finally, we
consider the entanglement of a two-level atom with the infinite collection of
modes present in the intracavity field of a Fabre-Perot cavity. In contrast to
the usual treatment of atom-field interactions with a continuum of modes using
the Born-Markov approximation, our treatment in all cases describes the full
non-Markovian dynamics of the atomic subsystem. Only when an analytic
expression for the infinite mode case is desired do we need to make a weak
coupling assumption which at long times approximates Markovian dynamics.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures; minor changes in grammar, wording, and
formatting. One unnecessary figure removed. Figure number revised (no longer
counts subfigures separately
Analytical model of non-Markovian decoherence in donor-based charge quantum bits
We develop an analytical model for describing the dynamics of a donor-based
charge quantum bit (qubit). As a result, the quantum decoherence of the qubit
is analytically obtained and shown to reveal non-Markovian features: The
decoherence rate varies with time and even attains negative values, generating
a non-exponential decay of the electronic coherence and a later recoherence.
The resulting coherence time is inversely proportional to the temperature, thus
leading to low decoherence below a material dependent characteristic
temperature.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figure
Comparing the Performance of Expert User Heuristics and an Integer Linear Program in Aircraft Carrier Deck Operations
Planning operations across a number of domains can be considered as resource allocation problems with timing constraints. An unexplored instance of such a problem domain is the aircraft carrier flight deck, where, in current operations, replanning is done without the aid of any computerized decision
support. Rather, veteran operators employ a set of experience based
heuristics to quickly generate new operating schedules. These expert user heuristics are neither codified nor evaluated by the United States Navy; they have grown solely from the convergent experiences of supervisory staff. As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are introduced in the aircraft carrier domain,
these heuristics may require alterations due to differing capabilities. The inclusion of UAVs also allows for new opportunities for on-line planning and control, providing an alternative to the current heuristic-based replanning methodology. To investigate these issues formally, we have developed a decision support system for flight deck operations that utilizes a conventional
integer linear program-based planning algorithm. In this system, a human operator sets both the goals and constraints for the algorithm, which then returns a proposed schedule for operator approval. As a part of validating this system, the performance of this collaborative humanâautomation planner was compared with that of the expert user heuristics over a set of test scenarios. The resulting analysis shows that human heuristics often outperform the plans produced by an optimization algorithm, but are also
often more conservative
The First Swift BAT Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog
We present the first Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) catalog of gamma-ray
bursts (GRBs), which contains bursts detected by the BAT between 2004 December
19 and 2007 June 16. This catalog (hereafter BAT1 catalog) contains burst
trigger time, location, 90% error radius, duration, fluence, peak flux, and
time averaged spectral parameters for each of 237 GRBs, as measured by the BAT.
The BAT-determined position reported here is within 1.75' of the Swift X-ray
Telescope (XRT)-determined position for 90% of these GRBs. The BAT T_90 and
T_50 durations peak at 80 and 20 seconds, respectively. From the
fluence-fluence correlation, we conclude that about 60% of the observed peak
energies, Epeak, of BAT GRBs could be less than 100 keV. We confirm that GRB
fluence to hardness and GRB peak flux to hardness are correlated for BAT bursts
in analogous ways to previous missions' results. The correlation between the
photon index in a simple power-law model and Epeak is also confirmed. We also
report the current status for the on-orbit BAT calibrations based on
observations of the Crab Nebula.Comment: 63 pages, 23 figures, Accepted in ApJS, Corrected for the BAT ground
position, the image significance, and the error radius of GRB 051105, Five
machine-readable tables are available at
http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/swift/results/bat1_catalog
Addressing student models of energy loss in quantum tunnelling
We report on a multi-year, multi-institution study to investigate student
reasoning about energy in the context of quantum tunnelling. We use ungraded
surveys, graded examination questions, individual clinical interviews, and
multiple-choice exams to build a picture of the types of responses that
students typically give. We find that two descriptions of tunnelling through a
square barrier are particularly common. Students often state that tunnelling
particles lose energy while tunnelling. When sketching wave functions, students
also show a shift in the axis of oscillation, as if the height of the axis of
oscillation indicated the energy of the particle. We find inconsistencies
between students' conceptual, mathematical, and graphical models of quantum
tunnelling. As part of a curriculum in quantum physics, we have developed
instructional materials to help students develop a more robust and less
inconsistent picture of tunnelling, and present data suggesting that we have
succeeded in doing so.Comment: Originally submitted to the European Journal of Physics on 2005 Feb
10. Pages: 14. References: 11. Figures: 9. Tables: 1. Resubmitted May 18 with
revisions that include an appendix with the curriculum materials discussed in
the paper (4 page small group UW-style tutorial
Controller Synthesis for Autonomous Systems Interacting With Human Operators
We propose an approach to synthesize control protocols for autonomous systems that account for uncertainties and imperfections in interactions with human operators. As an illustrative example, we consider a scenario involving road network surveillance by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is controlled remotely by a human operator but also has a certain degree of autonomy. Depending on the type (i.e., probabilistic and/or nondeterministic) of knowledge about the uncertainties and imperfections in the operatorautonomy interactions, we use abstractions based on Markov decision processes and augment these models to stochastic two-player games. Our approach enables the synthesis of operator-dependent optimal mission plans for the UAV, highlighting the effects of operator characteristics (e.g., workload, proficiency, and fatigue) on UAV mission performance; it can also provide informative feedback (e.g., Pareto curves showing the trade-offs between multiple mission objectives), potentially assisting the operator in decision-making
The modalities of Iranian soft power: from cultural diplomacy to soft war
Through exploring Iran's public diplomacy at the international level, this article demonstrates how the Islamic Republic's motives should not only be contextualised within the oft-sensationalised, material or âhardâ aspects of its foreign policy, but also within the desire to project its cultural reach through âsofterâ means. Iran's utilisation of culturally defined foreign policy objectives and actions demonstrates its understanding of soft power's potentialities. This article explores the ways in which Iran's public diplomacy is used to promote its soft power and craft its, at times, shifting image on the world stage
Confirmation of the \eps -- \eiso (Amati) relation from the X-ray flash XRF 050416A observed by Swift/BAT
We report Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) observations of the X-ray Flash
(XRF) XRF 050416A. The fluence ratio between the 15-25 keV and 25-50 keV energy
bands of this event is 1.5, thus making it the softest gamma-ray burst (GRB)
observed by BAT so far. The spectrum is well fitted by the Band function with
E^{\rm obs}_{\rm peak} of 15.0_{-2.7}^{+2.3} keV. Assuming the redshift of the
host galaxy (z = 0.6535), the isotropic-equivalent radiated energy E_{\rm iso}
and the peak energy at the GRB rest frame (E^{\rm src}_{\rm peak}) of XRF
050416A are not only consistent with the correlation found by Amati et al. and
extended to XRFs by Sakamoto et al., but also fill-in the gap of this relation
around the 30 - 80 keV range of E^{\rm src}_{\rm peak}. This result tightens
the validity of the E^{\rm src}_{\rm peak} - E_{\rm iso} relation from XRFs to
GRBs.
We also find that the jet break time estimated using the empirical relation
between E^{\rm src}_{\rm peak} and the collimation corrected energy E_{\gamma}
is inconsistent with the afterglow observation by Swift X-ray Telescope. This
could be due to the extra external shock emission overlaid around the jet break
time or to the non existence of a jet break feature for XRF, which might be a
further challenging for GRB jet emission, models and XRF/GRB unification
scenarios.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ
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