30,165 research outputs found
Space-time in light of Karolyhazy uncertainty relation
General relativity and quantum mechanics provide a natural explanation for
the existence of dark energy with its observed value and predict its dynamics.
Dark energy proves to be necessary for the existence of space-time itself and
determines the rate of its stability.Comment: 5 pages, Two misprints are correcte
An ultrafast 1 x M all-optical WDM packet-switched router based on the PPM header address
This paper presents an all-optical 1 x M WDM router architecture for packet routing at multiple wavelengths simultaneously, with no wavelength conversion modules. The packet header address adopted is based on the pulse position modulation (PPM) format, thus enabling the use of only a singlebitwise optical AND gate for fast header address correlation. It offers multicast as well as broadcast capabilities. It is shown that a high speed packet routing at 160 Gb/s can be achieved with a low channel crosstalk (CXT) of ~ -27 dB at a channel spacing of greater than 0.4 THz and a demultiplexer bandwidth of 500 GHz
On Uniquely Closable and Uniquely Typable Skeletons of Lambda Terms
Uniquely closable skeletons of lambda terms are Motzkin-trees that
predetermine the unique closed lambda term that can be obtained by labeling
their leaves with de Bruijn indices. Likewise, uniquely typable skeletons of
closed lambda terms predetermine the unique simply-typed lambda term that can
be obtained by labeling their leaves with de Bruijn indices.
We derive, through a sequence of logic program transformations, efficient
code for their combinatorial generation and study their statistical properties.
As a result, we obtain context-free grammars describing closable and uniquely
closable skeletons of lambda terms, opening the door for their in-depth study
with tools from analytic combinatorics.
Our empirical study of the more difficult case of (uniquely) typable terms
reveals some interesting open problems about their density and asymptotic
behavior.
As a connection between the two classes of terms, we also show that uniquely
typable closed lambda term skeletons of size are in a bijection with
binary trees of size .Comment: Pre-proceedings paper presented at the 27th International Symposium
on Logic-Based Program Synthesis and Transformation (LOPSTR 2017), Namur,
Belgium, 10-12 October 2017 (arXiv:1708.07854
On the X-ray variability of magnetar 1RXS J170849.0-400910
We present a long-term X-ray flux and spectral analysis for 1RXS
J170849.0-400910 using Swift/XRT spanning over 8 years from 2005-2013. We also
analyze two observations from Chandra and XMM in the period from 2003-2004. In
this 10-yr period, 1RXS J170849.0-400910 displayed several rotational glitches.
Previous studies have claimed variations in the X-ray emission associated with
some of the glitches. From our analysis we find no evidence for significant
X-ray flux variations and evidence for only low-level spectral variations. We
also present an updated timing solution for 1RXS J170849.0-400910, from RXTE
and Swift observations, which includes a previously unreported glitch at MJD
56019. We discuss the frequency and implications of radiatively quiet glitches
in magnetars.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
On the Stability and the Approximation of Branching Distribution Flows, with Applications to Nonlinear Multiple Target Filtering
We analyse the exponential stability properties of a class of measure-valued
equations arising in nonlinear multi-target filtering problems. We also prove
the uniform convergence properties w.r.t. the time parameter of a rather
general class of stochastic filtering algorithms, including sequential Monte
Carlo type models and mean eld particle interpretation models. We illustrate
these results in the context of the Bernoulli and the Probability Hypothesis
Density filter, yielding what seems to be the first results of this kind in
this subject
The level and duration of RSV-specific maternal IgG in infants in Kilifi Kenya
Background
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the major cause of lower respiratory tract infection in infants. The rate of decay of RSV-specific maternal antibodies (RSV-matAb), the factors affecting cord blood levels, and the relationship between these levels and protection from infection are poorly defined.
Methods
A birth cohort (n = 635) in rural Kenya, was studied intensively to monitor infections and describe age-related serological characteristics. RSV specific IgG antibody (Ab) in serum was measured by the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in cord blood, consecutive samples taken 3 monthly, and in paired acute and convalescent samples. A linear regression model was used to calculate the rate of RSV-matAb decline. The effect of risk factors on cord blood titres was investigated.
Results
The half-life of matAb in the Kenyan cohort was calculated to be 79 days (95% confidence limits (CL): 76–81 days). Ninety seven percent of infants were born with RSV-matAb. Infants who subsequently experienced an infection in early life had significantly lower cord titres of anti-RSV Ab in comparison to infants who did not have any incident infection in the first 6 months (P = 0.011). RSV infections were shown to have no effect on the rate of decay of RSV-matAb.
Conclusion
Maternal-specific RSV Ab decline rapidly following birth. However, we provide evidence of protection against severe disease by RSV-matAb during the first 6–7 months. This suggests that boosting maternal-specific Ab by RSV vaccination may be a useful strategy to consider
Time domain add-drop multiplexing scheme enhanced using a saw-tooth pulse shaper
We experimentally demonstrate the use of saw-tooth optical pulses, which are shaped using a fiber Bragg grating, to achieve robust and high performance time-domain add-drop multiplexing in a scheme based on cross-phase (XPM) modulation in an optical fiber, with subsequent offset filtering. As compared to the use of more conventional pulse shapes, such as Gaussian pulses of a similar pulse width, the purpose-shaped saw-tooth pulses allow higher extinction ratios for the add and drop windows and significant improvements in the receiver sensitivity for the dropped and added channels
A comparison of spectral element and finite difference methods using statically refined nonconforming grids for the MHD island coalescence instability problem
A recently developed spectral-element adaptive refinement incompressible
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code [Rosenberg, Fournier, Fischer, Pouquet, J. Comp.
Phys. 215, 59-80 (2006)] is applied to simulate the problem of MHD island
coalescence instability (MICI) in two dimensions. MICI is a fundamental MHD
process that can produce sharp current layers and subsequent reconnection and
heating in a high-Lundquist number plasma such as the solar corona [Ng and
Bhattacharjee, Phys. Plasmas, 5, 4028 (1998)]. Due to the formation of thin
current layers, it is highly desirable to use adaptively or statically refined
grids to resolve them, and to maintain accuracy at the same time. The output of
the spectral-element static adaptive refinement simulations are compared with
simulations using a finite difference method on the same refinement grids, and
both methods are compared to pseudo-spectral simulations with uniform grids as
baselines. It is shown that with the statically refined grids roughly scaling
linearly with effective resolution, spectral element runs can maintain accuracy
significantly higher than that of the finite difference runs, in some cases
achieving close to full spectral accuracy.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures, submitted to Astrophys. J. Supp
From computation to black holes and space-time foam
We show that quantum mechanics and general relativity limit the speed
of a simple computer (such as a black hole) and its memory space
to \tilde{\nu}^2 I^{-1} \lsim t_P^{-2}, where is the Planck time.
We also show that the life-time of a simple clock and its precision are
similarly limited. These bounds and the holographic bound originate from the
same physics that governs the quantum fluctuations of space-time. We further
show that these physical bounds are realized for black holes, yielding the
correct Hawking black hole lifetime, and that space-time undergoes much larger
quantum fluctuations than conventional wisdom claims -- almost within range of
detection with modern gravitational-wave interferometers.Comment: A misidentification of computer speeds is corrected. Our results for
black hole computation now agree with those given by S. Lloyd. All other
conclusions remain unchange
Topological spin excitations of Heisenberg antiferromagnets in two dimensions
In this paper we discuss the construction and the dynamics of vortex-like
topological spin excitations in the Schwinger-boson description of Heisenberg
antiferromagnets in two dimensions. The topological spin excitations are Dirac
fermions (with gap) when spin value is a half-integer. Experimental and
theoretical implications of these excitations are being investigated.Comment: Latex file, no figur
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