Higher Dimensional Cosmology: Relations among the radii of two homogeneous spaces

We study a cosmological model in 1+D+d dimensions where D dimensions are associated with the usual Friedman-Robertson-Walker type metric with radio a(t) and d dimensions corresponds to an additional homogeneous space with radio b(t). We make a general analysis of the field equations and then we obtain solutions involving the two cosmological radii, a(t) and b(t). The particular case D=3, d=1 is studied in some detail.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Two references added, minor typos corrected. To be published in Modern Physics Letters

Rydberg Wave Packets are Squeezed States

We point out that Rydberg wave packets (and similar ``coherent" molecular packets) are, in general, squeezed states, rather than the more elementary coherent states. This observation allows a more intuitive understanding of their properties; e.g., their revivals.Comment: 7 pages of text plus one figure available in the literature, LA-UR 93-2804, to be published in Quantum Optics, LaTe

Homography-based ground plane detection using a single on-board camera

This study presents a robust method for ground plane detection in vision-based systems with a non-stationary camera. The proposed method is based on the reliable estimation of the homography between ground planes in successive images. This homography is computed using a feature matching approach, which in contrast to classical approaches to on-board motion estimation does not require explicit ego-motion calculation. As opposed to it, a novel homography calculation method based on a linear estimation framework is presented. This framework provides predictions of the ground plane transformation matrix that are dynamically updated with new measurements. The method is specially suited for challenging environments, in particular traffic scenarios, in which the information is scarce and the homography computed from the images is usually inaccurate or erroneous. The proposed estimation framework is able to remove erroneous measurements and to correct those that are inaccurate, hence producing a reliable homography estimate at each instant. It is based on the evaluation of the difference between the predicted and the observed transformations, measured according to the spectral norm of the associated matrix of differences. Moreover, an example is provided on how to use the information extracted from ground plane estimation to achieve object detection and tracking. The method has been successfully demonstrated for the detection of moving vehicles in traffic environments

Search for a Solution of the Pioneer Anomaly

In 1972 and 1973 the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions were launched. They were the first to explore the outer solar system and achieved stunning breakthroughs in deep-space exploration. But beginning in about 1980 an unmodeled force of \sim 8 \times 10^{-8} cm/s^2, directed approximately towards the Sun, appeared in the tracking data. It later was unambiguously verified as being in the data and not an artifact. The cause remains unknown (although radiant heat remains a likely origin). With time more and more effort has gone into understanding this anomaly (and also possibly related effects). We review the situation and describe ongoing programs to resolve the issue.Comment: 24 pages 8 figure

Squeezed States for General Systems

We propose a ladder-operator method for obtaining the squeezed states of general symmetry systems. It is a generalization of the annihilation-operator technique for obtaining the coherent states of symmetry systems. We connect this method with the minimum-uncertainty method for obtaining the squeezed and coherent states of general potential systems, and comment on the distinctions between these two methods and the displacement-operator method.Comment: 8 pages, LAUR-93-1721, LaTe

Functional Forms for the Squeeze and the Time-Displacement Operators

Using Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff relations, the squeeze and harmonic-oscillator time-displacement operators are given in the form $\exp[\delta I] \exp[\alpha (x^2)]\exp[\beta(x\partial)] \exp[\gamma (\partial)^2]$, where $\alpha$, $\beta$, $\gamma$, and $\delta$ are explicitly determined. Applications are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, LaTe

Superfield Description of a Self-Dual Supergravity a la MacDowell-Mansouri

Using MacDowell-Mansouri theory, in this work, we investigate a superfield description of the self-dual supergravity a la Ashtekar. We find that in order to reproduce previous results on supersymmetric Ashtekar formalism, it is necessary to properly combine the supersymmetric field-strength in the Lagrangian. We extend our procedure to the case of supersymmetric Ashtekar formalism in eight dimensions.Comment: 19 pages, Latex; section 6 improve